Definition of: sacrifice

(sak′rə·fīs) noun
1. The act of making an offering to a deity, in worship or atonement.
2. That which is sacrificed; a victim.
3. A giving up of some cherished or desired object.
4. Loss incurred or suffered without return; destruction, as of life.
5. A reduction of price that leaves little or no profit or involves loss.
6. In baseball, a sacrifice hit.
—v. ·ficed, ·fic·ing v.t.
1. To make an offering or sacrifice of, as to a god or deity in propitiation, supplication, etc.
2. To give up, yield, permit injury to, or relinquish (some thing valued) for the sake of something else, as a person, thing, or idea.
3. To sell at a reduced price; part with at a loss.
4. In baseball, to advance (one or more runners) by means of a sacrifice hit.
—v.i.
5. To make a sacrifice.
6. To make a sacrifice hit. See synonyms under SURRENDER. [<OF <L sacrificium <sacra rites, orig. neut. plural of sacer holy + facere make]
—sac′ri·fic′er noun
—sac′·ri·fic′ing·ly adverb