There are many on line dictionaries that might help you .. Google "define [word-of-interest]" a) "donate" means "give" as in "John gave some money to charity." b) no: "dedicate" does not mean "support". The meaning "dedicate" of can be close to "give", but really "dedicate" shows the purpose of whatever you are talking about: as in "Jane's time was dedicated to teaching reading to adults". c) no: "sacrifice" means to do something which has a great cost for something thought to be worthwhile, as in "The nurse knew that sooner or later he/she would die fighting the epidemic, but was prepared to make the sacrifice." d) "devote" means to give time or effort to a cause, as in "He devoted a lot of time to learning a foreign language.:

Perhaps to devote is the positive sacrifice.

The meanings of the words donate, devote and sacrifice in the way you pose are correct. Below is the meaning for devote from the Oxford dictionary with examples: devote yourself to somebody/something to give most of your time, energy, attention, etc. to somebody/something. She devoted herself to her career. devote something to something to give an amount of time, attention, etc. to somethingI could only devote two hours a day to the work.