sacrifice — ODE

sacrifice /ˈsakrɪfʌɪs

▸ noun

1 an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity:

they offer sacrifices to the spirits

[mass noun] the ancient laws of animal sacrifice.

▪ an animal, person, or object offered in the act of sacrifice:

a flat cake offered by the Romans as a sacrifice to their gods.

2 Christian church Christ's offering of himself in the Crucifixion.

▪ the Eucharist regarded either (in Catholic terms) as a propitiatory offering of the body and blood of Christ or (in Protestant terms) as an act of thanksgiving.

3 an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy:

we must all be prepared to make sacrifices.

▪ Chess a move intended to allow the opponent to win a pawn or piece, for strategic or tactical reasons.

▪ Baseball (also sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly) a bunted or fly ball which puts the batter out but allows a base runner to advance.

▪ Bridge (also sacrifice bid) a bid made in the belief that it will be less costly to be defeated in the contract than to allow the opponents to make a contract.

▸ verb [with object]

1 offer or kill as a religious sacrifice:

the goat was sacrificed at the shrine.

2 give up (something valued) for the sake of other considerations:

working hard doesn't mean sacrificing your social life.

▪ Chess deliberately allow one's opponent to win (a pawn or piece):

he sacrificed his queen on the 34th move.

▪ Baseball advance (a base runner) by a sacrifice:

Doyle was sacrificed to second.

▪ [no object] Bridge make a sacrifice bid:

in that event East–West would sacrifice in six spades.

– ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French, from Latin sacrificium; related to sacrificus ‘sacrificial’, from sacer ‘holy’.