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, sacrifice]
    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: sacrifice, ritual killing]
    5: (baseball) 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: sacrifice, 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

Sacrifice \Sac"ri*fice\ (?; 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.
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            Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid. --Milton.
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   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.
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            Condemned to sacrifice his childish years
            To babbling ignorance, and to empty fears. --Prior.
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            The Baronet had sacrificed a large sum . . . for the
            sake of . . . making this boy his heir. --G. Eliot.
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   3. To destroy; to kill. --Johnson.
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   4. To sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
      [Tradesmen's Cant]
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Sacrifice \Sac"ri*fice\ (?; 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.
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            Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud,
            To Dagon.                             --Milton.
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   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.
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            Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
            Of human sacrifice.                   --Milton.
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            My life, if thou preserv'st my life,
            Thy sacrifice shall be.               --Addison.
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   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.
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   4. A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
      [Tradesmen's Cant]
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   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.
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Sacrifice \Sac"ri*fice\, v. i.
   To make offerings to God, or to a deity, of things consumed
   on the altar; to offer sacrifice.
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         O teacher, some great mischief hath befallen
         To that meek man, who well had sacrificed. --Milton.
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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.)