SACRIFICIAL LAMB

PRONUNCIATION: (sak-ruh-FISH-uhl lam)

MEANING: noun: Someone or something blamed or sent to their doom in order to spare others.

ETYMOLOGY: From sacrifice, from Latin sacer (holy) + facere (to make) + lamb, from Old English lamb. Earliest documented use: 1834.
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SACRIFICIAL LAMP - a light left burning for 24 hours after the death of someone who has lost their life to ave others

SACRIFICIAL LIMB - gnawing off a leg to escape from a trap

SACRIFINIAL LAMB - a pointed spike on the roof of a public building on which to impale animals in an attempt to appease the gods