expiatory sacrifice
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As the state Librarian dryly explained: "It is an expiatory sacrifice to veracity, to good sense and true taste."
From Time Magazine Archive
To a Jew, and to almost all races when St. Paul wrote, the idea of an expiatory sacrifice for sin seemed natural and obvious.
From St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Vol. I A Practical Exposition by Gore, Charles
Accordingly some unfortunate man, in no respect more depraved than hundreds whose offenses have been treated with lenity, is singled out as an expiatory sacrifice.
From My Recollections of Lord Byron by Jerningham, Hubert E. H. (Hubert Edward Henry), Sir
He closed further negotiations with the comment that the United States could not be expected "to make, as it were, an expiatory sacrifice to obtain redress, or beg for reparation."
From Jefferson and His Colleagues; a chronicle of the Virginia dynasty by Johnson, Allen
Her death was not avenged, perhaps because they considered it as an expiatory sacrifice.
