1 sac·ri·fice
Pronounced:
/ˈsækrəˌfaɪs/
Function:
nounInflected forms:
plural sac·ri·fic·esMeaning:
1 : the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone [count] ▪ The war required everyone to make sacrifices. ▪ No sacrifice is too great when it comes to her children. ▪ He made many personal sacrifices to provide help to the city's homeless people. ▪ He made the final/supreme/ultimate sacrifice [=he died] for his country. [noncount] ▪ The war required much sacrifice from everyone. ▪ He provided help to the city's homeless people at great personal sacrifice (to himself).
2 a : an act of killing a person or animal in a religious ceremony as an offering to please a god [count] ▪ a place where priests performed human/animal sacrifices in ancient rituals [noncount] ▪ a place where people were offered (up) in sacrifice to the gods b [count] : a person or animal that is killed in a sacrifice ▪ The villagers hoped the gods would accept their sacrifice. ▪ The goat was offered as a sacrifice.
3 [count] baseball : sacrifice bunt ▪ The runner went to second base on a sacrifice.
2 a : an act of killing a person or animal in a religious ceremony as an offering to please a god [count] ▪ a place where priests performed human/animal sacrifices in ancient rituals [noncount] ▪ a place where people were offered (up) in sacrifice to the gods b [count] : a person or animal that is killed in a sacrifice ▪ The villagers hoped the gods would accept their sacrifice. ▪ The goat was offered as a sacrifice.
3 [count] baseball : sacrifice bunt ▪ The runner went to second base on a sacrifice.