sacrifice

Plural: sacrifices

Noun

• the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
• personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in order to gain an objective)
• a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less than its value
  • "he had to sell his car at a considerable sacrifice"
• the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity
• (baseball) an out that advances the base runners
• Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
• A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
• The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
• Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.
• The rite of Holy Communion or the Mass, regarded as (Protestantism) an offering of thanksgiving to God for Christ's crucifixion, or (Roman Catholicism) a perpetual re-enactment of Christ's sacrificial offering.
• The destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable; also, the thing destroyed or surrendered for this purpose.
• Ellipsis of sacrifice bunt or sacrifice hit (“a play in which the batter intentionally hits the ball softly with a hands-spread batting stance at the cost of an out to advance one or more runners”).
• In full sacrifice bid: a bid of a contract which is unlikely to be fulfilled, that a player makes in the hope that they will incur fewer penalty points than the points likely to be gained by opponents in making their contract.
• A monetary loss incurred by selling something at less than its value; also, the thing thus sold.
• An act of intentionally allowing one's piece to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.

Verb

• endure the loss of
• kill or destroy
  • "The animals were sacrificed after the experiment"
  • "The general had to sacrifice several soldiers to save the regiment"
• sell at a loss
• make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals
• To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.
• To destroy or kill (a human being or an animal); specifically (sciences), to kill (an animal) for a scientific experiment or test.
• To destroy or surrender (something) for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable.
• Of a batter: to advance (one or more runners on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded, placing the batter out but with insufficient time to put the runner(s) out.
• To sell (something) at less than its value, thus incurring a monetary loss.
• To intentionally allow (a piece) to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.
• To offer a human being or an animal, or an object, to a deity.
• Of a batter: to bat the ball so that it can be fielded, placing the batter out but allowing one or more runners on base to advance.
• To make a bid of a contract which is unlikely to be fulfilled, in the hope that that the player will incur fewer penalty points than the points likely to be gained by opponents in making their contract.
• To celebrate Holy Communion or Mass.

Examples

• the sacrifice of one’s spare time in order to volunteer
• Venison has many advantages over meat from factory farms, although it still requires a hunter to sacrifice the life of a deer.

Synonyms

forfeit, forfeiture, give, ritual killing, Molochise, Molochize, save

Related Words

nonsacrificial, sacred, sacrificial, sacrificially, sacrificialness