sacrifice

IPA: sˈækrʌfaɪs

The offering of anything to a god; a consecratory rite.
The destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else; the devotion of something desirable to something higher, or to a calling deemed more pressing.
(baseball) A play in which the batter is intentionally out so that one or more runners can advance around the bases.
Something sacrificed.
A loss of profit.
(slang, dated) A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value.

(transitive, intransitive) To offer (something) as a gift to a deity.
(transitive) To give away (something valuable) to get at least a possibility of gaining something else of value (such as self-respect, trust, love, freedom, prosperity), or to avoid an even greater loss.
(transitive) To trade (a value of higher worth) for something of lesser worth in order to gain something else valued more, such as an ally or business relationship, or to avoid an even greater loss; to sell without profit to gain something other than money.
(transitive, chess) To intentionally give up (a piece) in order to improve one’s position on the board.
(transitive, baseball) To advance (a runner on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded, placing the batter out, but with insufficient time to put the runner out.
(dated, tradesmen's slang) To sell at a price less than the cost or actual value.
To destroy; to kill.
(medicine) To kill a test animal for autopsy.

Examples of "sacrifice" in Sentences

In Tingloy, Princess and members of her community have figured out that short-term sacrifice is the path to a future for the next generations.
There are mixed modes here also, as in the use of the term sacrifice — the word has a temporary allusive reference to a Mosaical figure of speech.
There are mixed modes here also, as in the use of the term sacrifice, — the word has a temporary allusive reference to a Mosaical figure of speech.
I _love_ him _more_ than I can say, and I shall do everything in my power to render the sacrifice he has made (for a _sacrifice_ in my opinion it is) as small as I can.
From this point of view, the term sacrifice can only be used of something that is consumed or destroyed in the service; while the term offering is restricted to things which are not destroyed.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of enlightened local people who understand that short-term sacrifice is worth the long-term benefit of conserving resources for future generations, many Philippine reefs are now healthier than when I first started working there.
Should any one seek to bargain with himself to pay the price of loss of self, so that he might gain the higher, fuller life, his sacrifice would be in vain because it would not be selflessness, but selfishness -- there could be no _sacrifice_, were it a bargain.