Definition
To accept some chore, hardship, or punishment for the sake of one's friends or colleagues.
Origins
By analogy with a player making a sacrifice for the benefit of the sports team.
See Also
- bell the cat
- fall on a grenade
- step into the breach
- take the fall
- there's no I in team
- you got this
How People Actually Use It
The act of someone willingly making a sacrifice for the benefit of others.
"There wasn't enough room in the car, so Jerry decided to take one for the team and stayed behind while the reast of us went to the big concert. "Man, Jerry warned us that movie would suck, so he went to go see it before the rest of us just to make sure, and man was he right." "Yeah man, he can really take one for the team."
Source: Urban Dictionary