sacrifices

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of sacrifice.

   The athlete spoke about the personal sacrifices behind her gold medal.

   Ancient temples were sites where ritual sacrifices took place.

   Note

   A plural that only the countable readings can take. The base noun also works uncountably, as in a life of sacrifice or the idea of offering in general. Once pluralized, though, it counts things: separate offerings laid before a deity, or particular things given up for a larger aim. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb, and the surrounding grammar decides between them. A determiner or adjective in front, as in personal sacrifices, marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of sacrifice.

   The chess player sacrifices a knight to open up the board.

   A good manager sometimes sacrifices short-term profit for long-term growth.

   Note

   Every use of the verb is transitive, so this form always arrives with an object: something is offered, killed or given up. That holds in the specialist trades too. A chess player sacrifices a piece, a batter sacrifices a runner over to the next base, a laboratory sacrifices an animal for a test, and in dated slang a seller sacrifices goods below their value. A for-phrase often names what the loss buys.

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