DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Of·fer·ing, n.
 1. The act of an offerer; a proffering.
 2. That which is offered, esp. in divine service; that which is presented as an expiation or atonement for sin, or as a free gift; a sacrifice; an oblation; as, sin offering.
 They are polluted offerings more abhorred
 Than spotted livers in the sacrifice.   --Shak.
 3. A sum of money offered, as in church service; as, a missionary offering. Specif.: Ch. of Eng. Personal tithes payable according to custom, either at certain seasons as Christmas or Easter, or on certain occasions as marriages or christenings.
    [None] to the offering before her should go.   --Chaucer.
 Burnt offering, Drink offering, etc. See under Burnt. etc.
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 Sac·ri·fice n.
 1. The offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory rite.
 Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud,
 To Dagon.   --Milton.
 2. Anything consecrated and offered to God, or to a divinity; an immolated victim, or an offering of any kind, laid upon an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.
 Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
 Of human sacrifice.   --Milton.
 My life, if thou preserv'st my life,
 Thy sacrifice shall be.   --Addison.
 3. Destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else; devotion of some desirable object in behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more pressing; hence, also, the thing so devoted or given up; as, the sacrifice of interest to pleasure, or of pleasure to interest.
 4. A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value. [Tradesmen's Cant]
 Burnt sacrifice. See Burnt offering, under Burnt.
 Sacrifice hit Baseball, in batting, a hit of such a kind that the batter loses his chance of tallying, but enables one or more who are on bases to get home or gain a base.

 Burnt p. p. & a. Consumed with, or as with, fire; scorched or dried, as with fire or heat; baked or hardened in the fire or the sun.
 Burnt ear, a black, powdery fungus which destroys grain. See Smut.
 Burnt offering, something offered and burnt on an altar, as an atonement for sin; a sacrifice. The offerings of the Jews were a clean animal, as an ox, a calf, a goat, or a sheep; or some vegetable substance, as bread, or ears of wheat or barley. Called also burnt sacrifice. --[2 Sam. xxiv. 22.]
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 Burnt offering
    Hebrew _olah_; i.e., "ascending," the whole being consumed by
    fire, and regarded as ascending to God while being consumed.
    Part of every offering was burnt in the sacred fire, but this
    was wholly burnt, a "whole burnt offering." It was the most
    frequent form of sacrifice, and apparently the only one
    mentioned in the book of Genesis. Such were the sacrifices
    offered by Abel (Gen. 4:3, 4, here called _minhah_; i.e., "a
    gift"), Noah (Gen. 8:20), Abraham (Gen. 22:2, 7, 8, 13), and by
    the Hebrews in Egypt (Ex. 10:25).
      The law of Moses afterwards prescribed the occasions and the
    manner in which burnt sacrifices were to be offered. There were
    "the continual burnt offering" (Ex. 29:38-42; Lev. 6:9-13), "the
    burnt offering of every sabbath," which was double the daily one
    (Num. 28:9, 10), "the burnt offering of every month" (28:11-15),
    the offerings at the Passover (19-23), at Pentecost (Lev.
    23:16), the feast of Trumpets (23:23-25), and on the day of
    Atonement (Lev. 16).
      On other occasions special sacrifices were offered, as at the
    consecration of Aaron (Ex. 29) and the dedication of the temple
    (1 Kings 8:5, 62-64).
      Free-will burnt offerings were also permitted (Lev. 1:13), and
    were offered at the accession of Solomon to the throne (1 Chr.
    29:21), and at the reformation brought about by Hezekiah (2 Chr.
    29: 31-35).
      These offerings signified the complete dedication of the
    offerers unto God. This is referred to in Rom. 12:1. (See ALTAR
    �T0000185, SACRIFICE.)