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Definition of sacrifice noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

sacrifice

noun
 
/ˈsækrɪfaɪs/
 
/ˈsækrɪfaɪs/
[countable, uncountable]
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  1. the fact of giving up something important or valuable to you in order to get or do something that seems more important; something that you give up in this way
    • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality.
    • Her parents made sacrifices so that she could have a good education.
    • to make the ultimate/supreme sacrifice (= to die for your country, to save a friend, etc.)
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • big
    • considerable
    • enormous
    verb + sacrifice
    • be
    • make
    • involve
    See full entry
  2. sacrifice (to somebody) the act of offering something to a god, especially an animal that has been killed in a special way; an animal, etc. that is offered in this way
    • They offered sacrifices to the gods.
    • a human sacrifice (= a person killed as a sacrifice)
    Topics Religion and festivalsc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • animal
    • human
    • pagan
    verb + sacrifice
    • perform
    • offer (something as)
    preposition
    • sacrifice to
    See full entry
  3. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French, from Latin sacrificium; related to sacrificus ‘sacrificial’, from sacer ‘holy’.
See sacrifice in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sacrifice in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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