suicide
suicide Lexical Profile
suicide Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The act or an instance of intentionally taking one's own life.
"Public health initiatives have expanded access to counseling services in an effort to prevent suicide."
A course of action that is ruinous or destructive to one's own interests, career, or social standing.
"Refusing to debate his opponent before the election was widely viewed as political suicide."
North American An intense conditioning drill in which an athlete sprints progressively to a series of lines on a court or field and back to the starting line.
"The basketball coach had the players run suicides at the end of practice to build their stamina."
• verb
To intentionally take one's own life.
"The tragic protagonist suicides in the final act of the play."
Word Nuance & Usage
In modern clinical, academic, and journalistic contexts, the phrase "died by suicide" is preferred over "committed suicide" to avoid the historical stigma and criminal connotations associated with the verb "commit."
• Rhymes for suicide
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the mid-17th century (notably used by Sir Thomas Browne in *Religio Medici*), from Modern Latin *suicidium*, formed from the Latin reflexive pronoun *sui* ("of oneself") and *-cidium* ("a killing," from *caedere*, "to cut or kill").