Sacrifice

(săk’rĭ-fĭz, 64), v. t. [imp. & p. p. SACRIFICED; p. pr. & vb. n. SACRIFICING.] [From the noun; Fr. sacrifier, Pr. sacrifier, sacrificar, Sp. & Pg. sacrificar, It. sacrificare, sagrificare, Lat. sacrificare, from sacer, sacred, holy, and facere, to make.]

1Sense 1. To make an offering of; to consecrate or present, by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a token of acknowledgment or thanksgiving, to some divinity; to immolate on the altar of God, either as an atonement for sin, or to procure favor, or to express thankfulness; as, to sacrifice an ox or a sheep. “Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid.” Milton.

2Sense 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.

Condemned to sacrifice his childish years. To babbling ignorance and to empty fears. Prior.

3Sense 3. To destroy; to kill.

(-fiz) (Synop., § 130), n. [Fr. sacrifice, Sp. & Pg. sacrificio, It. sacrificio, sacrificio, sagrificio, sagrifizio, Lat. sacrificium. See supra.]

1Sense 1. The offering of any thing to God or to a god; consecratory rite.

Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud To Dagon.  Milton.

2Sense 2. Any thing consecrated and offered to a divinity; an immolated victim, or an offering of any other kind, laid upon an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.

Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice.  Milton.

My life, if thou preserv'st my life, Thy sacrifice shall be.  Addison.

3Sense 3. Destruction or surrender of any thing made 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.