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Glite Dictionary
🤖 To destroy itself 💥 To ruin oneself
to self-destruct

to self-destruct

27 6.7
To destroy itself automatically when it senses danger
  • verb
  • /ˌsɛlf dɪˈstrʌkt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : autodestruirse
  • This message will self-destruct in five seconds.
  • self-destruct sequence
  • self-destruct button
  • self-destruct device

They have the they have the internal mechanism to self destruct like any tyranny.

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Examples

  • Initiate self-destruct sequence in two minutes.

    Lightyear (2022)

  • Now, the Podkova's housing was designed to self-destruct if tampered with.

    Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025)

  • This message will self-destruct in one second.

    Epic Movie (2007)

  • This message will self-destruct in five seconds.

    Mission: Impossible II (2000)

  • One switch might shut down the engine, while one might even be a self-destruct button.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • One way or another, if they remain on their current course, they will eventually self-destruct.

    Blog text (19)

  • The virus was supposed to self-destruct.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Self-destruct in 30 seconds and counting.

    Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

  • The contents are set to self-destruct in event of non-delivery, in exactly 9 hours from now.

    Ultraviolet (2006)

  • This message will self-destruct in five seconds.

Synonyms

to self-terminate
vsto self-destruct
  • NSFW
1 9.8

To stop something yourself, for example closing an account, making a device stop working, or ending your own life

involves actual physical destruction that happens automatically under conditions
to self-destroy
vsto self-destruct
8.4

To cause a machine or person to stop working by their own action

operates to destroy itself automatically when set conditions occur

How Self-Destructive

to explode
579 2.8
to self-destruct
  • Specialized
27 6.7
to break down
194 3.2
to fail
898 1.0

Surface Forms

self-destruct infinitive
self-destructed past
self-destructed past participle
self-destructing present participle
self-destructs third person singular

Morphology

self-destruct = destruct (transparent) = self + destruct

Meaning is directly built from 'self' + 'destruct' (to destroy itself); the composition is a straightforward reflexive prefixation.

Etymology

Self-destruct combines self 'itself' and destruct 'to destroy', like the word destroy. That's why a device or system set to break or erase itself automatically is said to 'self-destruct'.