Library / English Dictionary

SACRIFICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

forfeit; forfeiture; sacrifice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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 3

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

ritual killing; sacrifice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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 4

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 5

Meaning:

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

Example:

he had to sell his car at a considerable sacrifice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

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

loss (something that is lost)

Derivation:

sacrifice (sell at a loss)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Kill or destroy

Example:

The general had to sacrifice several soldiers to save the regiment

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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 2

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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Endure the loss of

Example:

I gave two sons to the war

Synonyms:

give; sacrifice

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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 4

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But the attempt was a dangerous one, and if Garcia did not return by a certain hour it was probable that his own life had been sacrificed.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If I returned, it was to be sacrificed or to see those whom I most loved die under the grasp of a dæmon whom I had myself created.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

For eighteen years I have screened him at the expense of everything which a man could sacrifice.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Also, the dog-driver rubbed Buck’s feet for half an hour each night after supper, and sacrificed the tops of his own moccasins to make four moccasins for Buck.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Do not you think it is quite a mistaken point of conscience, when a clergyman sacrifices his health for the sake of duties, which may be just as well performed by another person?

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I told them that one life was bad enough to lose, and that if they delayed they would sacrifice Miss Lucy.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Did she love the heroic and the spectacular for its own noble sake, or was it for the glory which might, without effort or sacrifice, be reflected upon herself?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the other hand, he had not sacrificed strength.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I had likewise learned, from his example, an utter detestation of all falsehood or disguise; and truth appeared so amiable to me, that I determined upon sacrificing every thing to it.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The planned duration from the start of dosing to the interim sacrifice of the subject.

(Interim Sacrifice Period, NCI Thesaurus)