"self-destruct" meaning in English

See self-destruct in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: self-destructs [present, singular, third-person], self-destructing [participle, present], self-destructed [participle, past], self-destructed [past]
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English destruct English self-destruct From self- + destruct. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|self-|destruct|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English destruct English self-destruct [Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from", "terms" : [ { "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "is_uncertain" : true, "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Indo-European", "term" : "*swé", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "ine-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "keyword" : "from" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Indo-European", "term" : "*selbʰ-", "status" : "inline", "lang" : "ine-pro" } ], "keyword" : "derived" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*selbaz", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Old English", "term" : "self", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "ang" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "keyword" : "from" } ], "lang_name" : "Old English", "term" : "self-", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "ang" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Middle English", "term" : "self-", "status" : "inline", "lang" : "enm" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "self-", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }, { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "destruct", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "self-destruct", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="self-destruct"> From self- + destruct. Head templates: {{en-verb}} self-destruct (third-person singular simple present self-destructs, present participle self-destructing, simple past and past participle self-destructed)
  1. (usually figuratively) To destroy oneself or itself. Tags: figuratively, usually Translations (to destroy oneself): autodestruir-se (Catalan), tuhota itsensä (Finnish), auto-détruire (French), αυτοκαταστρέφομαι (aftokatastréfomai) (Greek), самоликвиди́роваться (samolikvidírovatʹsja) [imperfective, perfective] (Russian), саморазруша́ться (samorazrušátʹsja) [imperfective] (Russian), саморазру́шиться (samorazrúšitʹsja) [perfective] (Russian), autodestruirse (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-self-destruct-en-verb-DDWGZ1nw Categories (other): English entries referencing missing etymons, English entries with etymology texts, English entries with etymology trees, English terms prefixed with self- Disambiguation of English entries referencing missing etymons: 47 53 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology texts: 49 51 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 49 51 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with self-: 55 45 Disambiguation of 'to destroy oneself': 83 17
  2. To destroy or greatly damage one's position in a game, in one's work or career, in one's financial or social position, etc.
    Sense id: en-self-destruct-en-verb-jTVEE2YR Categories (other): English entries referencing missing etymons, English entries with etymology texts, English entries with etymology trees, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with self-, Entries with translation boxes, Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Pages with etymology trees, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries referencing missing etymons: 47 53 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology texts: 49 51 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 49 51 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 43 57 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with self-: 55 45 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 35 65 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 32 68 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 32 68 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 21 79 Disambiguation of Pages with etymology trees: 23 77 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 17 83 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 26 74 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 27 73 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 19 81
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: self-destruction

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "self-destruction"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *swé?\nProto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *selbaz\nOld English self\nOld English self-\nMiddle English self-\nEnglish self-\nEnglish destruct\nEnglish self-destruct\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*swé\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*selbʰ-\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*selbaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"self\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"self-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"self-\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"self-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"destruct\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"self-destruct\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"self-destruct\">\nFrom self- + destruct.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *swé?\nProto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *selbaz\nOld English self\nOld English self-\nMiddle English self-\nEnglish self-\nEnglish destruct\nEnglish self-destruct\nFrom self- + destruct.",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "self-destructs",
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        "third-person"
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      "form": "self-destructing",
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    },
    {
      "form": "self-destructed",
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    },
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      "form": "self-destructed",
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      "args": {},
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    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              28,
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          "text": "The submarine was primed to self-destruct.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              25,
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          ],
          "ref": "2019 November 17, Sarah Holt, “Verstappen wins Brazilian GP as Ferraris collide AND Gasly and Sainz claim first F1 podiums”, in CNN:",
          "text": "The Ferraris pressed the self-destruct button, Lewis Hamilton lost his spot on the podium, and there were champagne moments for Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To destroy oneself or itself."
      ],
      "id": "en-self-destruct-en-verb-DDWGZ1nw",
      "links": [
        [
          "destroy",
          "destroy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually figuratively) To destroy oneself or itself."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "usually"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "lang_code": "ca",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "word": "autodestruir-se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "word": "tuhota itsensä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "word": "auto-détruire"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "lang_code": "el",
          "roman": "aftokatastréfomai",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "word": "αυτοκαταστρέφομαι"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "samolikvidírovatʹsja",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective",
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "самоликвиди́роваться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "samorazrušátʹsja",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "саморазруша́ться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "samorazrúšitʹsja",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "саморазру́шиться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "to destroy oneself",
          "word": "autodestruirse"
        }
      ]
    },
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          "_dis": "19 81",
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          "text": "If you attack with an energy level of only 30 you are going to self-destruct.",
          "type": "example"
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        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
              72
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Dating the boss is a bad move: if it goes badly, you could self-destruct.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To destroy or greatly damage one's position in a game, in one's work or career, in one's financial or social position, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-self-destruct-en-verb-jTVEE2YR"
    }
  ],
  "word": "self-destruct"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English entries with etymology texts",
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    "English lemmas",
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    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *swé",
    "English terms prefixed with self-",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages using etymon with no ID",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Pages with etymology trees",
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    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
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  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "self-destruction"
    }
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *swé?\nProto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *selbaz\nOld English self\nOld English self-\nMiddle English self-\nEnglish self-\nEnglish destruct\nEnglish self-destruct\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*swé\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*selbʰ-\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*selbaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"self\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"self-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"self-\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"self-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"destruct\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"self-destruct\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"self-destruct\">\nFrom self- + destruct.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
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  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *swé?\nProto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *selbaz\nOld English self\nOld English self-\nMiddle English self-\nEnglish self-\nEnglish destruct\nEnglish self-destruct\nFrom self- + destruct.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "self-destructs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "self-destructing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "self-destructed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "self-destructed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "self-destruct (third-person singular simple present self-destructs, present participle self-destructing, simple past and past participle self-destructed)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
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          "text": "The submarine was primed to self-destruct.",
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          "ref": "2019 November 17, Sarah Holt, “Verstappen wins Brazilian GP as Ferraris collide AND Gasly and Sainz claim first F1 podiums”, in CNN:",
          "text": "The Ferraris pressed the self-destruct button, Lewis Hamilton lost his spot on the podium, and there were champagne moments for Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To destroy oneself or itself."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "destroy",
          "destroy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually figuratively) To destroy oneself or itself."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "usually"
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        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
              72
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Dating the boss is a bad move: if it goes badly, you could self-destruct.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To destroy or greatly damage one's position in a game, in one's work or career, in one's financial or social position, etc."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "lang_code": "ca",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "word": "autodestruir-se"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "word": "tuhota itsensä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "word": "auto-détruire"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "lang_code": "el",
      "roman": "aftokatastréfomai",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "word": "αυτοκαταστρέφομαι"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "samolikvidírovatʹsja",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective",
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "самоликвиди́роваться"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "samorazrušátʹsja",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "саморазруша́ться"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "samorazrúšitʹsja",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "саморазру́шиться"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "to destroy oneself",
      "word": "autodestruirse"
    }
  ],
  "word": "self-destruct"
}

Download raw JSONL data for self-destruct meaning in English (5.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (03da280 and 7f4db16). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.