Link Centre Dictionary

sacrifice

sac·ri·fice

UK/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/ US/-faɪz/ common slang

verb

1.

endure the loss of

  • “He gave his life for his children”
  • “I gave two sons to the war”
Synonyms
2.

kill or destroy

  • “The animals were sacrificed after the experiment”
  • “The general had to sacrifice several soldiers to save the regiment”
3.

sell at a loss

4.

make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals

noun

1.

the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.

2.

personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in order to gain an objective)

3.

a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less than its value

  • “he had to sell his car at a considerable sacrifice”
4.

the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity

5.

(sacrifice) an out that advances the base runners

Origin

From Middle English sacrifice (“act of offering a life or object to a deity; the life or object so offered”), from Anglo-Norman sacrefiz, and Old French sacrifice, sacrifise (modern French sacrifice), from Latin sacrificium (“something offered to a deity, sacrifice”), from sacrum (“sacrifice, sacrificial rite”) + faciō (“to do, to make”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns).

Phrases

  • human sacrifice
  • sacrifice area
  • sacrifice bunt
  • sacrifice fly
  • sacrifice hit
  • sacrifice zone
  • salary sacrifice
  • supreme sacrifice

Related words

Word family

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.