Sacrifice
['sækrɪfaɪs]
Definition
(noun.) (baseball) an out that advances the base runners.
(noun.) the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity.
(noun.) personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in order to gain an objective).
(noun.) a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less than its value; 'he had to sell his car at a considerable sacrifice'.
(verb.) kill or destroy; 'The animals were sacrificed after the experiment'; 'The general had to sacrifice several soldiers to save the regiment'.
(verb.) make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals.
(verb.) endure the loss of; 'He gave his life for his children'; 'I gave two sons to the war'.
(verb.) sell at a loss.
Inputed by Camille--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory rite.
(n.) Anything consecrated and offered to God, or to a divinity; an immolated victim, or an offering of any kind, laid upon an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.
(n.) Destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else; devotion of some desirable object in behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more pressing; hence, also, the thing so devoted or given up; as, the sacrifice of interest to pleasure, or of pleasure to interest.
(n.) A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
(n.) To make an offering of; to consecrate or present to a divinity by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a token acknowledgment or thanksgiving; to immolate on the altar of God, in order to atone for sin, to procure favor, or to express thankfulness; as, to sacrifice an ox or a sheep.
(n.) Hence, to destroy, surrender, or suffer to be lost, for the sake of obtaining something; to give up in favor of a higher or more imperative object or duty; to devote, with loss or suffering.
(n.) To destroy; to kill.
(n.) To sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
(v. i.) To make offerings to God, or to a deity, of things consumed on the altar; to offer sacrifice.
Typed by Leona
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Immolate, offer up.[2]. Surrender, give up.
n. [1]. Immolation.[2]. Offering, oblation.[3]. Surrender.
Typed by Ada
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Offer, immolate, destroy, surrender, forego
ANT:Reserve, retain, appropriate, withhold
SYN:Offering, oblation, immolation, surrender, destruction, atonement,propitiation, appeasement, expiation
ANT:Reservation, appropriation, retention, salvation, rescue, offence,transgression
Typed by Lillian
Definition
v.t. to offer up esp. on the altar of a divinity: to destroy or give up for something else: to devote or destroy with loss or suffering: to kill.—v.i. to make offerings to God.—n. the fundamental institution of all natural religions primarily a sacramental meal at which the communicants are a deity and his worshippers and the elements the flesh and blood of a sacred victim: the act of sacrificing or offering to a deity esp. a victim on an altar: that which is sacrificed or offered: destruction or loss of anything to gain some object: that which is given up destroyed or lost for some end: mere loss of profit.—n. Sacrif′icant one who offers a sacrifice.—adj. Sacrif′icātory offering sacrifice.—n. Sac′rificer a priest.—adj. Sacrifi′cial relating to or consisting in sacrifice: performing sacrifice.—adv. Sacrifi′cially.—Sacrifice hit in base-ball a hit to enable another player to score or to gain a base.—Eucharistic sacrifice the supposed constant renewal of the sacrifice of Christ in the mass.
Editor: Myra
Examples
- At immense personal sacrifice I followed the dictates of my own ingenuity, my own humanity, my own caution, and took her identity instead. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He deserved it all--all labour, all devotion, all sacrifice; I would have toiled up a scaleless Alp, to pluck a flower that would please him. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Because you delight in sacrifice. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Let us have no more troubles and heart-burnings that any sacrifice of mine can prevent. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- So shall you give me protection without sacrifice on your part, or the pretext of requiring any requital from me. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- But you must not sacrifice yourself to her from any sense of justice, replied Eustacia quickly. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- He called it a sacrifice, and demanded it of her goodness and self-command as such. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- To be sure, he answered, and went away laughing to the sacrifices. Plato. The Republic.
- A young man really well deserves constant support and patronage,' looking at the Doctor, 'who makes such sacrifices. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The primary duty of this priesthood was concerned with the worship of and the sacrifices to the god of the temple. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Son of Heaven offered sacrifices for all the Chinese. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The rich heard them mentioned with wonder, but were silent, from a sense of shame at the difference between her sacrifices and their own. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It had no temples, and since it had no sacrifices it had no sacred order of priests. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A young man for whom two such elders had devoted themselves would indeed be culpable if he threw himself away and made their sacrifices vain. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- In order to get a start in his retreat he sacrificed his sick and wounded. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- They are not ends in the sense of finalities to which everything must be bent and sacrificed. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- In both regulations, the sacred rights of private property are sacrificed to the supposed interests of public revenue. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- There were families in London who would have sacrificed a year's income to receive such an honour at the hands of those great ladies. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Advantageous as would be the alliance, and long standing and public as was the engagement, her happiness must not be sacrificed to it. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- I am not quite satisfied, but I can't blame you, for I know how willingly you sacrificed your vanity, as you call it, to your love. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- In days of happiness I have often repeated to myself, with a grateful heart and exulting spirit, all that Raymond sacrificed for me. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- How shall we secure breadth of outlook without sacrificing efficiency of execution? John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The common men were everywhere sacrificing life and health for what they believed to be the common good of the state. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A consistent result could be obtained only by sacrificing the modern or the ancient observations. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Of sacrificing myself I made no difficulty but my heart is pained by what I see; it _must_ have and give solace. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- There was a frontispiece to the volume, representing Abraham sacrificing Isaac. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Morse, of Boston, developed the cutting of diamonds to its present perfection by fearlessly sacrificing weight to get proportion. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- When you see the chorus throw incense on the altar, think not that they are sacrificing to the wine-god of their ancestors. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
Inputed by Bess