SACRIFICE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does sacrifice mean? 

• SACRIFICE (noun)
  The noun SACRIFICE has 5 senses:

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

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

5. (baseball) an out that advances the base runners

  Familiarity information: SACRIFICE used as a noun is common.

• SACRIFICE (verb)
  The verb SACRIFICE has 4 senses:

1. endure the loss of

2. kill or destroy

3. sell at a loss

4. make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals

  Familiarity information: SACRIFICE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SACRIFICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

forfeit; forfeiture; sacrifice

Hypernyms ("sacrifice" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Derivation:

sacrifice (endure the loss of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("sacrifice" is a kind of...):

loss; personnel casualty (military personnel lost by death or capture)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Context example:

he had to sell his car at a considerable sacrifice

Hypernyms ("sacrifice" is a kind of...):

loss (something that is lost)

Derivation:

sacrifice (sell at a loss)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

ritual killing; sacrifice

Hypernyms ("sacrifice" is a kind of...):

kill; killing; putting to death (the act of terminating a life)

Domain category:

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sacrifice"):

hecatomb (a great sacrifice; an ancient Greek or Roman sacrifice of 100 oxen)

immolation (killing or offering as a sacrifice)

Derivation:

sacrifice (kill or destroy)

sacrifice (make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals)

sacrificial (used in or connected with a sacrifice)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(baseball) an out that advances the base runners

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sacrifice" is a kind of...):

putout (an out resulting from a fielding play (not a strikeout))

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sacrifice"):

sacrifice fly (a sacrifice made by hitting a long fly ball)

• SACRIFICE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sacrifice    ... he / she / it sacrifices   
Past simple: sacrificed   
Past participle: sacrificed   
-ing form: sacrificing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Endure the loss of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

give; sacrifice

Context example:

I gave two sons to the war

Hypernyms (to "sacrifice" is one way to...):

free; give up; release; relinquish; resign (part with a possession or right)

Verb group:

devote; give; pay (dedicate)

commit; consecrate; dedicate; devote; give (give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Kill or destroy

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The general had to sacrifice several soldiers to save the regiment

Hypernyms (to "sacrifice" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to sacrifice the prisoners

Derivation:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Sell at a loss

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "sacrifice" is one way to...):

sell (exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "sacrifice" is one way to...):

offer; offer up (present as an act of worship)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sacrifice"):

immolate (offer as a sacrifice by killing or by giving up to destruction)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

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

sacrificer (a religious person who offers up a sacrifice)

 Context examples 

He too had a sacrifice to make to Mansfield Park as well as his aunt.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester to-morrow.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Any sacrifice that makes me lose one crawl or squirm is foolish,—and not only foolish, for it is a wrong against myself and a wicked thing.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I hoped I was perfectly equal to any sacrifice of that description.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Saturn often asks for sacrifice in one area of your life, but you will be willing to do so, for the new goal will be so important to you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It will soon be no more than a sacrifice consumed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Tell me all about it, Jo. 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.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

If the individuals in the Money Market oblige Mr. Micawber to sustain a great sacrifice, that is between themselves and their consciences.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“What you ask,” said Elizabeth, “is no sacrifice on my side; and Mr. Darcy had much better finish his letter.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

But you may be assured that I would not sacrifice one sentiment of local attachment of yours, or of any one whom I loved, for all the improvements in the world.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)