- sacrifice
- sac|ri|fice1 [ `sækrı,faıs ] verb *1. ) transitive to give up something important or valuable so that you or other people can do or have something else:sacrifice something to do something: She sacrificed her career to bring up the children.sacrifice something for something: Would you sacrifice some of your salary for more vacation time?2. ) transitive to kill a person or animal as part of a ceremony to honor a god or spirit3. ) intransitive to hit the ball in a game of baseball so that a runner can move ahead to the next BASE, even though the person hitting the ball is then OUTsacrificesac|ri|fice 2 [ `sækrı,faıs ] noun *1. ) count or uncount the act of giving up something important or valuable so that you or other people can do or have something else:Most of the speeches on D-Day will focus on the sacrifice of the World War II generation.make sacrifices: Making sacrifices is part of raising children.2. ) count or uncount the act of killing a person or animal as part of a ceremony to honor a god or spirit:Animal sacrifice is an important ritual in this religion.a ) count a person or animal killed to honor a god or spirit:Goats were offered as sacrifices to the gods.3. ) count in baseball, an occasion when someone hits the ball so that a runner can move ahead to the next BASE, even though the person hitting the ball is then OUT
Usage of the words and phrases in modern English. 2013.