sacrifice-n; 6 Senses

Sense Number 1: the act of surrendering or losing something of value

Commentary: SACRIFICE[+action][+surrendering][+value]

Examples:
His parents made a lot of sacrifices to send him to college.
Mary is prepared to make sacrifices to advance her career.
The shady venture was not worth the sacrifice of his good name.
These holidays are to honor the sacrifices made by the armed forces. (their acts)

Mappings:
PropBank: sacrifice.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1

Sense Number 2: personnel lost in battle to attain an objective

Commentary: SACRIFICE[+entity][+personnel][+military][+killed]
NOTE: refers to the people, not their acts. (Sense 1)

Examples:
The general said the sacrifices would be too great in a full-fleged land invasion.
The troops incurred enormous sacrifices to take the bridge.

Mappings:
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 2

Sense Number 3: a relative loss in price, value

Commentary: SACRIFICE[+quantity][+amount][+price][+reduction]
NOTE: implies some sales price loss for a seller

Examples:
The bankrupt store sold most of its remaining goods at a sacrifice.
They had to sell their home at a considerable sacrifice.

Mappings:
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 3

Sense Number 4: a ritually killed animal or human

Commentary: SACRIFICE[+entity][+individual][+victim][+killed][+ritually][+human/+animal]
NOTE: refers to the entity, not the act of killing (Sense 6)

Examples:
They offered a lamb as a sacrifice.
The human sacrifices had their hearts torn from them.
This is where sacrifices were offered to the spirits.

Mappings:
PropBank: sacrifice.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4

Sense Number 5: a forfeiting game strategy

Commentary: SACRIFICE[+action][+forfeiting][+strategy][+game]

Examples:
His bunt was a sacrifice to get the runner to second.
Black's sacrifice of his queen was a trap that white fell for. (chess strategy)
Mary decided to make a sacrifice bid in the bridge game.

Mappings:
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 5

Sense Number 6: the act of performing a ritualized killing

Commentary: SACRIFICE[+action][+killing][+offering][+ritual]

Examples:
The sacrifice of the sacred animals had to occur under a full moon.
The grizzly sacrifice of the cult's children was on the front page of all the newspapers.

Mappings:
PropBank: sacrifice.01
WordNet 0.0 Sense Numbers: 1