HOW TO PRONOUNCE
sacrifice
/ˈsæk.ɹɪˌfaɪs/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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What does sacrifice mean?
noun
- 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 etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
- (figuratively) The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
More meanings (17)
noun
- 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-presentation of Christ's sacrificial offering.
- (figuratively) 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.
- (figuratively) 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”).
- (figuratively) 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.
- (figuratively) An act of intentionally allowing one's piece to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.
- (dated, figuratively, slang) A monetary loss incurred by selling something at less than its value; also, the thing thus sold.
verb
- To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.
- (figuratively) To destroy or kill (a human being or an animal); specifically (sciences), to kill (an animal) for a scientific experiment or test.
- (figuratively) To destroy or surrender (something) for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable.
- (figuratively) 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.
- (figuratively) 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.
- (figuratively) 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.
- (figuratively) 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.
- (figuratively) To celebrate Holy Communion or Mass.
- (dated, figuratively, slang) To sell (something) at less than its value, thus incurring a monetary loss.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈsæk.ɹɪˌfaɪs/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
I felt that I would have been willing to sacrifice my life for the Cause, if thereby I could have produced conviction.
Such a howl from the newspapers followed this that Duane was slated for sacrifice, and barely got out of town in time.
More book examples (3)
Three stumps of masts, broken off about two feet above the bridge, showed that the vessel had had to sacrifice its masts.
He was single-hearted in his aim, and to pursue it he was willing to sacrifice not only himself—many can do that—but others.
I have heard Christ, in the pulpits of our Church, held up for imitation on the ground that His sacrifice was voluntary.