sacrament 1218
British RABBI (=Jewish leader) who became Chief Rabbi (=the leader of the Jewish religion) in the UK in 1991
sac·ra·ment /'sækrəmənt/ n (used especially in the Roman Catholic Church) an important Christian ceremony, such as BAPTISM, the EUCHARIST, or marriage, considered as bringing God's blessing to those who receive it. —sac·ra·men·tal /ˌsækrə'mentl/ adj
Sacrament, the (used especially in the Roman Catholic Church) the holy bread eaten at the EUCHARIST
Sac·ra·men·to /ˌsækrə'mentəʊ/ a city and port which is the capital city of the US state of California
sa·cred /'seɪkrɪd/ adj 1 [A no comp.] religious in nature or use: sacred music | sacred history (=the history of the church or religion) → opposite SECULAR 2 holy because connected with God or a god: Cows are sacred to Hindus. 3 serious, solemn, and important in the way religious things are: a sacred oath | (especially humor) Tennis players are wearing coloured clothes at Wimbledon – is nothing sacred any more? —sacred·ly adv —sacred·ness n [U]
sacred 'cow n derog an idea, practice etc that is so much accepted that not even honest doubts about it are allowed: You can't attack free enterprise at the Republican convention; it's one of the party's sacred cows.
sac·ri·fice¹ /'sækrɪfaɪs/ n [C,U] 1 (a) religious offering to God or a god, in the hope of gaining favour or preventing something bad from happening, especially of an animal by killing it in a ceremony 2 (a) loss or giving up of something of value, especially for what is believed to be a good purpose: Success in your job is not worth the sacrifice of your health. | another speech by the Prime Minister about the need for economic sacrifice | His parents made a lot of sacrifices to make sure he got a good education. 3 (in BASEBALL) a hit which allows a runner on BASE to move to the next base but which puts the BATTER out 4 the final/supreme sacrifice fml the act of giving one's life especially for a good cause: a war hero who made the final sacrifice to save his fellow soldiers
sacrifice² v 1 [I;T] to make an offering of (something or someone) as a sacrifice, especially by killing it in a ceremony: The high priest sacrificed the goat on the altar. 2 [T(for, to)] to lose or give up, especially for a good purpose or to gain a desirable result: It is the company's policy to sacrifice short-term profits for the sake of long-term growth. | to increase production without sacrificing quality 3 [T;I] to make a sacrifice (3)
sac·ri·fi·cial /ˌsækrɪ'fɪʃəl/ adj of or being a sacrifice: a sacrificial lamb/victim —sac·ri·fi·cial·ly adv
sac·ri·lege /'sækrɪlɪdʒ/ n [C,U] (an example of) the act of treating a holy place or thing without respect: (fig.) I think it would be (a) sacrilege to pull down this beautiful old building. → compare BLASPHEMY —sac·ri·le·gious /ˌsækrɪ'lɪdʒəs/ adj —sac·ri·le·gious·ly adv
sac·ris·tan /'sækrɪstən/ n a person in a church whose job is to take care of the articles used in worship, and sometimes of the whole church building
sac·ris·ty /'sækrɪsti/ n a VESTRY
sac·ro·il·i·ac /ˌsækrəʊ'ɪliæk/ n med the area of the body at the bottom of the BACKBONE where it meets the HIPS
sac·ro·sanct /'sækrəʊsækt/ adj often derog or humor too holy or important to be allowed to suffer any harm or disrespect: I never take any work home at the weekends – they are sacrosanct.
sad /səd/ adj -dd- 1 feeling, showing, or causing grief or sorrow; unhappy: I was sad to hear that you're leaving. | It was a sad day for our team when we lost the final. | sad eyes | sad news | the saddest moment in the whole book 2 [A] unsatisfactory or unacceptable; DEPLORABLE: It's a sad state of affairs when children aren't taught to read properly. 3 sadder but wiser infml having learned from unpleasant experience 4 sad to say unfortunately: Sad to say, the weather here has been nothing but rain all week. → opposite HAPPY; see also SADLY —sad·ness n [U]
SAD /sæd/ n [U] abbrev. for seasonal affective disorder
Sa·dat, An·war al- /sə'dæt, 'ænwɑː æl-wɑːr-/ (1918–81) the President of EGYPT from 1970 to 1981, who tried to bring peace between the Arabs and Israelis. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Menachem BEGIN in 1978 and they signed the CAMP DAVID agreement in the following year. He was murdered by EXTREMIST Muslims who opposed his policy towards Israel.
Sad·dam Hus·sein /sæˌdæm hʊ'seɪn/ (1937–) the President of IRAQ from 1979 to 2003. He led Iraq in a war against Iran (1980–88), and in 1990 he tried to take control of Kuwait. This caused the first GULF WAR, and Saddam's armies were forced to leave Kuwait by United Nations forces, led by the US. After the war, the UN demanded that its officials should be able to examine places where Iraqi weapons were made and stored. The US believed that Saddam was preventing them from doing this, so they led a COALITION (=group of armies from different countries) which INVADED Iraq in 2003 and took him prisoner. He was later put on TRIAL by the Iraqi authorities for crimes against the Iraqi people.
sad·den /'sædn/ v [T often pass.] fml to make sad: We were very saddened to hear of the death of your mother.
sad·dle¹ /'sædl/ n 1 [C] a usually leather seat made to fit over the back of an animal, especially a horse, for a rider to sit on: After many hours in the saddle (=riding) he was very weary. → see picture at HORSE 2 [C] a seat on a bicycle, motorcycle etc → see picture at BICYCLE 3 [C;U+of] especially BrE (a piece of) meat cut from the back of a sheep or deer just in front of the back legs: roast saddle of lamb 4 in the saddle infml in control: It's good to have an experienced man in the saddle again.
saddle² v [T(UP)] to put a saddle on (an animal, usually a horse): He saddled (up) his horse and rode away.
saddle sbdy. with sthg./sbdy. phr v [T] to cause (someone) to have (a difficult or unpleasant duty, responsibility etc): They saddled me with all the secretarial work because I was the only one who could type. | [+v-ing] I got saddled with taking the children to school again!
sad·dle·bag /'sædlbæg/ n 1 either of a joined pair of bags placed over an animal's back so that one hangs on each side below a saddle 2 a bag fixed to a bicycle, motorcycle etc, behind the seat or in a pair over the back wheel
'saddle blanket n a thick piece of cloth which one puts beneath the saddle on a horse
sad·dler /'sædlər/ n a maker of saddles and other leather articles for horses
sad·dlery /'sædləri/ n 1 [U] goods made by a saddler 2 [C] a saddler's shop
'saddle shoe n AmE a shoe on which the toe and heel are of one colour and the middle part is of another colour. They are usually black and white, and were fashionable in the 1950s, especially worn with BOBBY SOCKS and full skirts.
'saddle-sore adj (of a person) sore and painfully stiff from riding a horse or bicycle
sad·do /'sædəʊ/ n pl. saddos slang someone who you do not respect, especially because you think their interests are boring or strange: a bunch of saddos dressed up as science fiction characters
Sade, Mar·quis de /sɑːd, 'mɑːkɪ dəl'mɑːr-/ (1740–1814) a French writer who was put in prison for his violent sexual actions. He wrote novels and plays about the sexual pleasure he got from hurting other people, and SADISM, the word for this type of sexual pleasure, is based on his name.
sa·dhu /'sɑːduː/ n an ASCETIC wandering Hindu holy man
Sa·die Haw·kins Day /ˌseɪdi 'hɔːkɪnz ˌdeɪ/ AmE a day when, according to an old US custom, women can ask men to go out with them to start a romantic relationship, or women can ask men to dance with them at an event called a Sadie Hawkins dance. Sadie Hawkins is usually in November, and is based on an imaginary character who first appeared in the US CARTOON STRIP (=a set of drawings that tell a funny story in a newspaper or magazine) Li'l Abner in the 1930s.
sa·dis·m /'seɪdɪzəm/ n [U] 1 the gaining of pleasure from being cruel 2 the gaining of sexual pleasure from causing pain to someone → compare MASOCHISM; see Marquis de SADE —sa·dist n: The headmaster's a bit of a sadist; he loves to keep boys waiting outside his office in fear. —sa·dis·tic /sə'dɪstɪk/ adj: 'I'm afraid you will never see your children again,' he said with a sadistic smile. —sa·dis·ti·cal·ly /kli/ adv
Sad·ler's Wells /ˌsædləz 'welzl-lərz-/ an old theatre i