take one for the team

English

Etymology

By analogy with a player making a sacrifice for the benefit of the sports team.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Northern California):(file)
  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Verb

take one for the team (third-person singular simple present takes one for the team, present participle taking one for the team, simple past took one for the team, past participle taken one for the team)

  1. (informal, idiomatic) To accept some chore, hardship, or punishment for the sake of one's friends or colleagues.

Translations

See also