sacrifice

noun

• 1an 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.

• 3an 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.
• (also sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly) Baseball a bunted or fly ball which puts the batter out but allows a base runner to advance.
• (also sacrifice bid) Bridge 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

• 1offer or kill as a religious sacrifice:the goat was sacrificed at the shrine

• 2give 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