[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

sacrifice \sac"rifice\ ?; 277, n. oe. sacrifise, sacrifice,
   f. sacrifice, fr. l. sacrificium; sacer sacred + facere to
   make. see sacred, and fact.
   1. the offering of anything to god, or to a god; consecratory
      rite.
      1913 webster

            great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud,
            to dagon.                             --milton.
      1913 webster

   2. anything consecrated and offered to god, or to a divinity;
      an immolated victim, or an offering of any kind, laid upon
      an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious
      thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.
      1913 webster

            moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
            of human sacrifice.                   --milton.
      1913 webster

            my life, if thou preserv'st my life,
            thy sacrifice shall be.               --addison.
      1913 webster

   3. destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of
      something else; devotion of some desirable object in
      behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more
      pressing; hence, also, the thing so devoted or given up;
      as, the sacrifice of interest to pleasure, or of pleasure
      to interest.
      1913 webster

   4. a sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
      tradesmen's cant
      1913 webster

   burnt sacrifice. see burnt offering, under burnt.

   sacrifice hit baseball, in batting, a hit of such a kind
      that the batter loses his chance of tallying, but enables
      one or more who are on bases to get home or gain a base.
      1913 webster
see also:
sacred fact burnt sacrifice burnt offering burnt sacrifice hit 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

sacrifice \sac"rifice\, v. i.
   to make offerings to god, or to a deity, of things consumed
   on the altar; to offer sacrifice.
   1913 webster

         o teacher, some great mischief hath befallen
         to that meek man, who well had sacrificed. --milton.
   1913 webster

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

sacrifice \sac"rifice\ ?; 277, v. t. imp.  p. p.
   sacrificed; p. pr.  vb. n. sacrificing. from
   sacrifice, n.: cf. f. sacrifier, l. sacrificare; sacer
   sacred, holy + -ficare only in comp. to make. see -fy.
   1. to make an offering of; to consecrate or present to a
      divinity by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a
      token acknowledgment or thanksgiving; to immolate on the
      altar of god, in order to atone for sin, to procure favor,
      or to express thankfulness; as, to sacrifice an ox or a
      sheep.
      1913 webster

            oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid. --milton.
      1913 webster

   2. hence, to destroy, surrender, or suffer to be lost, for
      the sake of obtaining something; to give up in favor of a
      higher or more imperative object or duty; to devote, with
      loss or suffering.
      1913 webster

            condemned to sacrifice his childish years
            to babbling ignorance, and to empty fears. --prior.
      1913 webster

            the baronet had sacrificed a large sum . . . for the
            sake of . . . making this boy his heir. --g. eliot.
      1913 webster

   3. to destroy; to kill. --johnson.
      1913 webster

   4. to sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
      tradesmen's cant
      1913 webster
see also:
sacrificed sacrificing sacrifice -fy 

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

sacrifice
     n 1: the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for
          a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc. syn: forfeit,
           forfeiture
     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; "he had to sell his car at a considerable
        sacrifice"
     4: the act of killing an animal or person in order to
        propitiate a deity syn: ritual killing
     5: sacrifice an out that advances the base runners
     v 1: endure the loss of; "he gave his life for his children"; "i
          gave two sons to the war" syn: give
     2: kill or destroy; "the animals were sacrificed after the
        experiment"; "the general had to sacrifice several
        soldiers to save the regiment"
     3: sell at a loss
     4: make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals
see also:
forfeit forfeiture ritual killing give 

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

256 moby thesaurus words for "sacrifice":
   abandon, abandonment, abjuration, abjure, altruism, annihilate,
   appease, bane, be bereaved of, bereave of life, bereavement, blood,
   bloodletting, bloodshed, braining, burnt offering, carry away,
   carry off, cease, cede, cession, chloroform, close out, collection,
   commitment, consecrate, consecration, convert into cash, cost,
   cut down, cut off, cut under, damage, dead loss, dealing death,
   debit, dedicate, dedication, default, denial, denudation,
   deprivation, deprive of life, desist, despoilment, destroy,
   destruction, destruction of life, detriment, devote, devotion,
   disgorge, disinterest, disinterestedness, dispatch, dispensation,
   dispense with, disposal, dispose of, disposition, dispossession,
   divestment, do away with, do for, do to death, do without, donate,
   drink offering, drop, dump, dumping, effect a sale, end, eschew,
   euthanasia, ex voto offering, execute, execution, expense,
   exterminate, extermination, finish, finish off, flow of blood,
   forbear, forfeit, forfeiture, forgo, forgoing, forswear,
   forswearing, get along without, get rid of, getting rid of, give,
   give away, give up, giving up, go astray from, gore,
   have done with, heave offering, hecatomb, holocaust,
   human sacrifice, humility, immolate, immolate before, immolation,
   incense, incur loss, infanticide, injury, job, kill, killing,
   kiss good-bye, lapidation, launch into eternity,
   lean over backwards, let go, let slip, letting go, libation,
   liquidate, lose, lose out, loser, losing, losing streak, loss,
   lynch, mactation, make a sacrifice, make a sale, make away with,
   make propitiation, make sacrifice to, market, martyr, martyrdom,
   martyrization, martyrize, merchandise, mercy killing, mislay,
   misplace, miss, modesty, move, oblation, offer, offer sacrifice,
   offer up, offering, offertory, part with, peace offering,
   perdition, piacular offering, poison, poisoning, privation,
   propitiate, purge, put away, put down, put to death, put to sleep,
   quitclaim, recant, recantation, refrain from, release, relinquish,
   relinquishment, remove from life, render up, renounce,
   renunciation, resell, resign, resignation, retail, retract,
   retraction, riddance, ritual killing, ritual murder, robbery, ruin,
   sacramental offering, scapegoat, self-abasement, self-abnegation,
   self-denial, self-devotion, self-effacement, self-forgetfulness,
   self-immolation, self-neglect, self-neglectfulness,
   self-renouncement, self-sacrifice, self-subjection, selflessness,
   sell, sell off, sell on consignment, sell out, sell over,
   sell retail, sell short, sell up, sell wholesale, shooting,
   slaughter, slay, slaying, spare, spoliation, starve, stoning, stop,
   stripping, suffer loss, surrender, suttee, sutteeism, swear off,
   swearing off, take life, take off, taking away, taking of life,
   thank offering, throw up, total loss, turn into money, turn over,
   unacquisitiveness, undercut, undergo privation, undersell, unload,
   unpossessiveness, unselfishness, vacate, victimize,
   votive offering, waive, wander from, whole offering, wholesale,
   yield, yielding

[6] : Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

sacrifice
   the offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine
   institution. it did not originate with man. god himself
   appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be
   offered to him by guilty man. the language and the idea of
   sacrifice pervade the whole bible.
   
     sacrifices were offered in the ante-diluvian age. the lord
   clothed adam and eve with the skins of animals, which in all
   probability had been offered in sacrifice gen. 3:21. abel
   offered a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock" 4:4; heb.
   11:4. a distinction also was made between clean and unclean
   animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to
   the offering up of sacrifices gen. 7:2, 8, because animals
   were not given to man as food till after the flood.
   
     the same practice is continued down through the patriarchal
   age gen. 8:20; 12:7; 13:4, 18; 15:9-11; 22:1-18, etc.. in the
   mosaic period of old testament history definite laws were
   prescribed by god regarding the different kinds of sacrifices
   that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was
   to be made. the offering of stated sacrifices became indeed a
   prominent and distinctive feature of the whole period ex.
   12:3-27; lev. 23:5-8; num. 9:2-14. see altar.
   
     we learn from the epistle to the hebrews that sacrifices had
   in themselves no value or efficacy. they were only the "shadow
   of good things to come," and pointed the worshippers forward to
   the coming of the great high priest, who, in the fullness of the
   time, "was offered once for all to bear the sin of many."
   sacrifices belonged to a temporary economy, to a system of types
   and emblems which served their purposes and have now passed
   away. the "one sacrifice for sins" hath "perfected for ever them
   that are sanctified."
   
     sacrifices were of two kinds: 1. unbloody, such as 1
   first-fruits and tithes; 2 meat and drink-offerings; and 3
   incense. 2. bloody, such as 1 burnt-offerings; 2
   peace-offerings; and 3 sin and trespass offerings. see offerings.
   
see also:
altar offerings 

Sacrifice >> S Words
Sacrifice, definition of term: Sacrifice
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Sacrifice Hit >> S Words
Sacrifice Hit, definition of term: Sacrifice Hit
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