1.sacrifice用作名词时基本意思是“祭品”,转化为动词意为“以…作为祭品”,引申可表示某人为了更重要、更珍贵的人或理想而“奉献”或“牺牲”自己的利益、事业等,含有自我克制的意味,有时还可表示“贱卖”。
2.sacrifice只用作及物动词,接名词或代词作宾语。表示“为…牺牲”时,常与介词for或to连用。可用于被动结构。
3.sacrifice还常接动词不定式作目的状语。

sacrifice for(v.+prep.)
为…而牺牲〔放弃〕 lose (sth) or give up for (sb/sth)
▲sacrifice sth for sb/sth
A mother will sacrifice her life for her children.为了孩子,一个母亲可以献出她自己的生命。
He decided to sacrifice a trip for a new house.他为了购买新房,决定放弃旅行。
He sacrificed a promising career for a momentary fancy.他因一时心血来潮而失去了一个颇有发展前途的职业。
They sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom.他们为争取自由而献出了生命。

sacrifice to(v.+prep.)
▲sacrifice oneself/sth to sb/sth
1.向…祭献 make a sacred gift of (sth/sb) to (a god)
They sacrificed a lamb to the gods.他们以羔羊祭祀众神。
2.为…牺牲〔奉献…〕; 舍弃…以得到… give up; yield (sth or oneself) in favour of (sth/sb else); lose (sth) in order to get (sth else)
He has sacrificed himself to the nation's interest.他为了国家的利益而牺牲了自己。
Many women had to sacrifice their own careers to their husbands'.许多妇女为了丈夫的工作不得不牺牲自己的事业。
He is always ready to sacrifice his personal interest to public good.他随时准备为大家的利益而牺牲自身利益。
It's wrong to sacrifice quality to quantity.牺牲质量去追求数量是错误的。
The car's designers have sacrificed comfort to economy.这种汽车的设计者为了追求经济实惠而牺牲汽车的舒适。

用作及物动词
▲S+～+n./pron.
Abraham was about to sacrifice Issac.亚伯拉罕正要用艾瑟克作祭品。
They sacrificed cattle, sheep and pigs.他们以三牲为祭品。
The ancient Greeks sacrificed lambs or calves before engaging in battle.古希腊人在打仗前用羔羊或小牛作祭品。
She must sacrifice herself; there was no other way.她必须牺牲自己,除此之外别无他法。
They'll not readily sacrifice their freedom of the press.他们不会轻易放弃自己的新闻自由。
I need the money and I'm having to sacrifice my car.我需要钱,因此我准备廉价出售我的汽车。
As he was in need of money, he was forced to sacrifice the furniture.因为需要钱,他只好将家具折本出售。
The owner sacrificed her horses.马主把她的马匹廉价卖出去了。
Jacelin sacrificed his life to save the child from the fire.杰斯林牺牲自己的生命把孩子从火中救了出来。
Cage sacrificed her pleasure and pastime to look after the old man.凯奇牺牲自己的娱乐和消遣时间去照料这位老人。
He sacrificed his holiday to help his brother's business.为了帮助兄弟经商,他放弃休假。
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
The old houses had to be sacrificed to make room for modern buildings.为了腾出地皮来盖现代化的楼房,这些旧房只好拆除。

sacrifice, forgo
这组词都可表示“放弃”。它们之间的区别是:前者指为某种目的而舍弃自己的生命或权利; 后者指根据某种原则自动放弃,或因某种原因而失去。试比较以下两个句子的含义:
The soldiers were willing to sacrifice
their lives for their country.
士兵们甘愿为国捐躯。
The actors forwent their pay for the
benefit performance.
演员们不要报酬参加义演。

［派生词］ sacrificial adj.献祭的；献身的
［词源］＜古法语sacrificium(古时祭神的家畜)

There were complaints that it was demanding too much sacrifice on the part of ordinary people.人们报怨要老百姓作出的牺牲太多了。
His parents made a lot of sacrifices to make sure he got a good education.他的父母为确保他得到良好的教育而做了很多牺牲。
Before the battle, the commanders ordered the sacrifice of two bullocks to the god of war.打仗之前,指挥官下令给战神供奉两只小公牛。
They killed a sheep as a sacrifice.他们宰了一只羊作为祭品。