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suicide

n. · v.
US //ˈsuəˌsaɪd// UK //sˈuːɪsˌaɪd// sui·cide
  1. 1 ending one's own life (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    the act of intentionally killing yourself.

    the act of intentionally taking one's own life. Uncountable in the abstract sense; countable when referring to specific instances.

    Example

    The charity provides a 24-hour phone line for people who are thinking about suicide.

    Example

    Public health initiatives have focused on reducing the stigma surrounding mental health to help prevent suicide among vulnerable populations.
    • self destruction
  2. 2 ruining a career or plan (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    an action that is likely to destroy your career, reputation, or a business.

    a course of action that is likely to result in the ruin of one's own interests, career, or organization.

    Example

    Quitting his job before finding a new one was professional suicide.

    Example

    The CEO's decision to ignore the safety warnings was described by industry analysts as corporate suicide.
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  1. 3 mixed soda drink (n.)
    C2 Proficiency American English Slang Informal

    a drink made by mixing all the different soda flavors together from a machine.

    a beverage created by combining all available flavors at a soda fountain.

    Example

    The kids at the party were all drinking suicides from the soda fountain.

    Example

    While the adults chose single-flavor sodas, the teenagers experimented by creating a suicide with every syrup available in the dispenser.
  2. 4 sprint exercise (n.)
    C1 Advanced Informal Sport

    a type of exercise where you run back and forth between lines at increasing distances.

    a conditioning drill consisting of a series of sprints of increasing lengths, each followed by a return to the starting point.

    Example

    The basketball coach made the team run suicides at the end of practice.

    Example

    Exhausted after the scrimmage, the players were nonetheless ordered to complete three sets of suicides to build their endurance.
    • shuttle run
  3. 5 to end one's own life (v.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    to intentionally kill yourself.

    to intentionally take one's own life. Intransitive; often replaced by 'commit suicide' in general usage.

    Example

    The character in the novel decided to suicide after losing everything.

    Example

    While the verb form is used in some clinical or academic texts, most speakers prefer the phrase 'to commit suicide' in daily conversation.
    • kill oneself
  4. 6 to make a murder look like suicide (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Slang Informal

    to kill someone but make it look like they killed themselves.

    to kill a person and manipulate the scene to suggest the death was a suicide. Transitive; often used in the context of conspiracy theories.

    Example

    Some people believe the witness didn't kill himself but was actually suicided.

    Example

    The internet was flooded with theories claiming the high-profile prisoner had been suicided by those who feared his testimony.

Origin

First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before entering Latin. Displaced native Middle English seolf-cwale from Old English selfcwalu (literally “self-slaughter”), after which suicide may have been modelled, or calqued (compare manuscript). Noun sense 3 is perhaps by analogy with words like homicide, patricide (see -cide), or, although unlikely, from Medieval Latin suīcīda; see the Etymology section at suīcīdium.

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Idioms1 entry

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