Sacrifice is a powerful idea. It represents giving up something valuable for a bigger purpose — love, family, success, or duty. In English, there are many idioms that express sacrifice in emotional, meaningful, and poetic ways.
If you want to sound more fluent and expressive, learning these sacrifice-related idioms will help you speak naturally and confidently.
What Is an Idiom? (Simple Explanation + Example)
An idiom is a group of words that has a meaning different from the literal meaning of the words. We don’t translate it word-by-word — we understand the hidden meaning.
👉 Example:
“Give your right arm.”
Literal meaning: Cut your arm.
Real meaning: Make a huge sacrifice for something important.
Sentence:
He would give his right arm to protect his family.
Idioms make emotions and ideas stronger in language.
50 Idioms for Sacrifice meaning with example
- Give your right arm
Meaning: Sacrifice a lot for something
Sentence: He would give his right arm to save his friend. - Take one for the team
Meaning: Sacrifice for others
Sentence: He took one for the team and worked extra hours. - Blood, sweat, and tears
Meaning: Hard work and sacrifice
Sentence: His success took blood, sweat, and tears. - Burn the candle at both ends
Meaning: Work too much with no rest
Sentence: She burned the candle at both ends to finish the project. - Give up the ghost
Meaning: Stop trying or sacrifice effort
Sentence: They didn’t give up the ghost — they kept fighting. - Go the extra mile
Meaning: Put in extra effort
Sentence: She always goes the extra mile for family. - Walk through fire
Meaning: Face danger or hardship for someone
Sentence: He would walk through fire for her. - Put your life on the line
Meaning: Risk life for a cause
Sentence: Soldiers put their lives on the line for their country. - Pay the price
Meaning: Suffer consequences or sacrifice
Sentence: To become successful, he paid the price. - Bite the bullet
Meaning: Face something difficult
Sentence: She bit the bullet and made the hard decision. - Throw yourself under the bus
Meaning: Sacrifice yourself to protect others
Sentence: He threw himself under the bus to save his team. - Fall on your sword
Meaning: Accept blame or sacrifice reputation
Sentence: The manager fell on his sword for the company. - Give it your all
Meaning: Sacrifice everything to succeed
Sentence: He gave it his all to protect his family. - Carry the weight of the world
Meaning: Take responsibility or sacrifice peace
Sentence: Mothers often carry the weight of the world. - Put your heart and soul into something
Meaning: Work with full passion and sacrifice
Sentence: She put her heart and soul into her dreams. - Give up the throne
Meaning: Sacrifice power or status
Sentence: He gave up the throne for love. - Lay it all on the line
Meaning: Risk everything
Sentence: He laid everything on the line for his future. - Break your back
Meaning: Work extremely hard
Sentence: She broke her back to provide for her family. - Cut from your own flesh
Meaning: Sacrifice something deeply personal
Sentence: Parents cut from their own flesh for children. - Make ends meet
Meaning: Sacrifice comfort to survive
Sentence: They worked extra jobs to make ends meet. - Blood is thicker than water
Meaning: Family bonds require sacrifice
Sentence: He stayed because blood is thicker than water. - Give someone the shirt off your back
Meaning: Sacrifice everything to help someone
Sentence: He would give the shirt off his back to a friend. - Carry someone on your back
Meaning: Support someone fully
Sentence: She carried her family on her back for years. - Burn bridges
Meaning: Sacrifice connections to move forward
Sentence: Sometimes you must burn bridges to grow. - No pain, no gain
Meaning: Success requires sacrifice
Sentence: He believes in no pain, no gain. - Put others first
Meaning: Prioritize others over yourself
Sentence: Good leaders put others first. - Take the fall
Meaning: Accept blame willingly
Sentence: He took the fall to protect his team. - Turn the other cheek
Meaning: Sacrifice pride and forgive
Sentence: She turned the other cheek instead of fighting. - Pay it forward
Meaning: Help others because someone once helped you
Sentence: He paid it forward by supporting new students. - Give until it hurts
Meaning: Sacrifice even when it’s difficult
Sentence: Some people give until it hurts. - Put your neck on the line
Meaning: Risk reputation or safety
Sentence: She put her neck on the line to defend him. - Lose sleep over something
Meaning: Sacrifice peace or rest
Sentence: Parents lose sleep worrying about children. - Carry the torch
Meaning: Continue a mission with sacrifice
Sentence: He carried the torch for his family legacy. - Throw in the towel
Meaning: Give up after sacrifice
Sentence: He never threw in the towel, even when tired. - Give someone your last crumb
Meaning: Give everything you have
Sentence: She would give her last crumb to help someone. - Against all odds
Meaning: Continue despite sacrifice and struggle
Sentence: He succeeded against all odds. - Put blood on your hands
Meaning: Pay a painful emotional price
Sentence: He made decisions with blood on his hands. - Go down with the ship
Meaning: Sacrifice yourself instead of abandoning others
Sentence: Good leaders go down with the ship. - Walk in someone’s shoes
Meaning: Understand someone by sacrificing judgment
Sentence: She walked in his shoes before judging. - Move mountains
Meaning: Make huge sacrifice to achieve something
Sentence: A mother can move mountains for her child. - Throw your heart into the fire
Meaning: Sacrifice emotional safety
Sentence: Loving deeply means throwing your heart into the fire. - Lose the battle to win the war
Meaning: Make a small sacrifice for a bigger outcome
Sentence: Sometimes you must lose the battle to win the war. - Put everything on the table
Meaning: Sacrifice privacy or fear
Sentence: He put everything on the table for honesty. - Give someone your time
Meaning: Sacrifice your schedule for them
Sentence: Time is the biggest gift — she gave it freely. - Walk away for the greater good
Meaning: Sacrifice personal desires
Sentence: He walked away for the greater good. - Carry the cross
Meaning: Endure suffering for a purpose
Sentence: He carried the cross of responsibility. - Break your heart to save someone
Meaning: Make a painful sacrifice
Sentence: Sometimes love means breaking your own heart. - Risk it all
Meaning: Put everything in danger
Sentence: He risked it all to chase his dream. - Give without expecting
Meaning: Sacrifice self-interest
Sentence: True kindness means giving without expecting anything. - Love at a cost
Meaning: Sacrifice comfort for love
Sentence: Real love always comes at a cost.
Practice: Fill in the Blanks
- He would __________ his right arm to protect his family.
- She always goes the __________ mile.
- He walked __________ fire to help his team.
- Sometimes you must lose the battle to win the __________.
- She put her __________ and soul into her dream.
- He never threw in the __________.
- Parents often lose __________ worrying about children.
- Good leaders take one for the __________.
- He laid everything on the __________ for his future.
- Sometimes love means breaking your own __________.
Conclusion
Sacrifice idioms express deep meaning, emotion, and personal strength. Using them in conversations helps you communicate complex feelings in a simple and powerful way. Practice a few every day, and soon they will become a natural part of your English speaking.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are these idioms commonly used?
Yes, many of them are used in spoken English, storytelling, movies, and emotional writing.
2. Can I use sacrifice idioms in formal writing?
Some are formal and meaningful, while others are informal. Choose based on context.
3. How do I remember idioms easily?
Use them in sentences, stories, captions, or conversations regularly.
4. Are idioms the same as quotes?
No. Quotes are statements from people — idioms are common phrases with symbolic meaning.
5. Do idioms improve fluency?
Yes, idioms make language expressive, natural, and native-like.
