From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsacrificesac‧ri‧fice1 /ˈsækrəfaɪs/ ●●○ noun 1 GIVE[countable, uncountable] when you decide not to have something valuable, in order to get something that is more important The minister stressed the need for economic sacrifice. The workforce were willing to make sacrifices in order to preserve jobs. She brought three children up single-handedly, often at great personal sacrifice.2 RR a) [countable, uncountable] the act of offering something to a god, especially in the past, by killing an animal or person in a religious ceremony They made sacrifices to ensure a good harvest. b) [countable] an animal, person, or object offered to a god in sacrificesacrifice to In those days, an animal was offered as a sacrifice to God. a human sacrifice (=a person killed as a sacrifice)3 → the final/supreme/ultimate sacrifice
Examples from the Corpus
sacrifice• When the death is commemorated as a sacrifice, this is by way of interpretive metaphor.• This section speaks of the incompleteness of tongues, prophecy, faith, and sacrifice without love as motivation.• The sight of another person's suffering and sacrifice stopped me thinking so much about my own problems.• At the opening ceremony for a new building recently, a man made an impassioned speech about the wrongs of animal sacrifice.• In another, they are merely expendable sacrifices to national economic development.• Parenthood often calls for sacrifice.• They evolved a form of worship which required neither priest, Temple nor sacrifice.• What Ullman wants is to play every character in her imagination, at great personal sacrifice.• Puckett's sacrifice let Gladden score.• Just as everyone was expecting a draw, however, Yusupov made a an unexpected sacrifice of a bishop.personal sacrifice• Providing the safety and stability that children need can mean major financial and personal sacrifices.• Brave personal sacrifices are juxtaposed with quirky moments.• What Ullman wants is to play every character in her imagination, at great personal sacrifice.• We could ask, for example: what sort of personal sacrifices might people have to make in order to reduce pollution?• That some blacks are willing to make some significant personal sacrifices to pursue certain mutually shared goals.human sacrifice• The ceremony included a human sacrifice.• Hale's eyes stare knowingly at the viewer, a human sacrifice to an alienated and consumerist culture.• Believing gods were pacified by human blood, they killed thousands in human sacrifice.• He was dressed as a wizard and the whole place was full of drawings of human sacrifices and magic designs.• Some certainly saw her as a kind of human sacrifice, albeit a willing one.• She may have originated with the notion of human sacrifice to ensure plentiful crops, for her actions were often bloodthirsty.• Just as humans depend on plants to live, so the Gods depend on human sacrifices for a kind of sustenance.• Later accounts held that the Druids made Stonehenge, where they supposedly practiced human sacrifice.• There are also stories which point back clearly to a time when there was human sacrifice. sacrificesacrifice2 ●●○ verb 1 [transitive]GIVE to willingly stop having something you want or doing something you like in order to get something more importantsacrifice something for something A Labour government chose to sacrifice defence for welfare.sacrifice something to do something He sacrificed a promising career to look after his kids.sacrifice yourself (for something) mothers who sacrifice themselves for their childrenRegisterIn everyday English, people often say give up rather than sacrifice:He gave up a promising career to look after his kids.2 [intransitive, transitive]RR to kill an animal or person and offer them to a god in a religious ceremony→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
sacrifice• Not literally, perhaps-but he wanted to know how much I would go through for him, how much I would sacrifice.• He sacrificed a promising career to look after his handicapped daughter.• Some will be prepared to sacrifice a short-term class advantage to the mandate for a long-term restoration of the national well-being.• This is what nature does: it sacrifices elegance for reliability.• Two men so different in appearance and manner, yet both prepared to sacrifice her feelings on the altar of their ambition.• Her letters reveal the extent to which she had sacrificed her identity.• The nation is not prepared to sacrifice its independence for the sake of an alliance with a powerful neighbour.• He sacrificed status to remain in Middlemarch and even so can not see her.• What we are being asked to do now is to sacrifice the development of these areas in order to protect the environment.• The intense preliminary bombardment, so characteristic of Pétain, was just too prolonged and sacrificed the vital element of surprise.• Is he a deity bearing off animals that have been sacrificed to him?sacrifice yourself (for something)• We'd have to sacrifice ourselves, to be transformed, instantly.• She is prepared to sacrifice herself again for some one else.• It would seem likely that more people get themselves killed out of pride than sacrifice themselves for any moral end.• She sacrificed herself for her country.• He asked each of his older girls to sacrifice herself for the family.• I urgently felt the need to sacrifice myself for the underprivileged.• But my duty is to sacrifice myself to save the army which has so nobly done its duty to defend Vicksburg.• So would I. You need to be uncomplicated, maybe, to sacrifice yourself willingly.From Longman Business Dictionarysacrificesac‧ri‧fice1 /ˈsækrəfaɪs/ noun [countable, uncountable] something valuable that you decide not to have, in order to get something that is more importantThe directors are willing to make certain sacrifices to make the company financially viable.Lawyers who choose to work in smaller firms often make a substantial economic sacrifice.sacrificesacrifice2 verb [transitive] to willingly stop having something you want or doing something you like in order to get something more importantsacrifice something forThe self-employed sacrifice security for the power to regulate their own careers.sacrifice something to do somethingIn order to stay competitive, the company has had to sacrifice profit margins.→ See Verb tableOrigin sacrifice1 (1200-1300) Old French Latin sacrificium, from sacer ( → SACRED) + facere “to make” 