to make a sacrifice
37
3.9
- phrasal verb
:
sacrificar
- To achieve their goals, the team had to make sacrifices and work late into the night.
- willing to make sacrifices
- willingness to make sacrifices
Examples
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And in almost every story, the hero is someone that is willing to make a sacrifice to help others.
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In Quebec, there are those who will make a sacrifice for the nation or collective good.
Academic text (1993) -
And in almost every story the hero is someone that is willing to make a sacrifice to help others.
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Are you willing to make a sacrifice?
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We each made a sacrifice to get what we wanted.
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"We all have to make sacrifices now and then," she said.
Fiction book (1999) -
At the same time, when times got hard, the workers would make sacrifices to help the company.
Blog text (13) -
I think that he saw people suffering and he made a sacrifice for them.
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At least I'm willing to make a sacrifice for my art.
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All citizens, at one time or another, must make sacrifices for the common achievement...
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
394
3.4
Give up something important to help someone or reach a goal
28
6.3
To present a prayer, gift, or thanks as an act of religious worship
15
6.4
To accept something unpleasant so other people benefit
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'make' (to cause/do) combined with the noun 'sacrifice' (giving up something valuable) yields the action of performing that act. The 'make a + noun' construction is a common, transparent pattern in English and is found in many other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Make a sacrifice may come from old ceremonies where people gave animals or food as a sacrifice to the gods to ask for help. Because they gave up something valuable for a bigger need, the phrase now means 'to give up something important' for a greater purpose or to help others.