1The action of killing oneself intentionally.

1. 1.1count noun A person who commits suicide.
   ‘a stretch of the line popular with would-be suicides’
   More example sentences

   • ‘After, on average, more than twenty-six years, ninety-four per cent of the would-be suicides were either still alive or had died of natural causes.’
   • ‘Over the years the Humber Bridge has built up an unenviable reputation for attracting would-be suicides.’
   • ‘It could just be about the world's losers, the failed would-be suicides and all our broken hearts.’
   • ‘A would-be suicide was talked out of hanging himself from a public bridge - only to be promptly charged with assault.’
   • ‘Many SIBs would previously have been recorded as would-be suicides.’
   • ‘Other songs have ageing rockers dying unmourned and a would-be suicide weighing up the pro's and con's of life.’
   • ‘The autonomy granted by decriminalising suicide and attempted suicide in section 1 enables a would-be suicide to change her mind and seek help without fear of prosecution.’
   • ‘We drove across a bridge that's become so popular with suicides that the city is now encasing it with expensive, hideous jumper-proof wiring.’
   • ‘Nor is it at all uncommon for suicides to work something from popular songs or books or films into their deaths.’
   • ‘But in fact more than half have not been convicted of anything, and are placed here by social services because they are runaways, potentially violent, self-harmers or potential suicides.’
   • ‘Jane Pennington died a suicide at the age of 48.’
2. 1.2A course of action which is disastrously damaging to oneself or one's interests.
   ‘it would be political suicide to restrict criteria for unemployment benefit’
   More example sentences

   • ‘For any processor, being associated with an outbreak of foodborne illness is not only ethically damaging, but financial suicide.’
   • ‘Who will say ‘no’ when the consultants argue that it's political suicide not to say ‘yes’?’
   • ‘I want to ask your outstanding panel, with the stock market way up and the economy roaring, why in the world would not it be political suicide to repeal the tax cut?’
   • ‘There was no question of sitting on the sidelines; a neither-nor alternative would be political suicide and a declaration of bankruptcy on a vital issue.’
   • ‘Of course all these men knew, as all modern presidential candidates know, that to admit to theological skepticism is political suicide.’
   • ‘Openness to a range of options becomes weakness, thinking things through is dithering and willingness to accept the idea that you might sometimes be wrong is political suicide.’
   • ‘Chirac would be risking political suicide if he tried to re-run the referendum after such an overwhelming ‘no’ vote.’
   • ‘It would be political suicide for your government.’
   • ‘But in the current political climate, with the Feds handing out tax cuts, raising taxes is political suicide.’
   • ‘But, as in the case of his father, that would have been less a gesture of bipartisanship than an act of political suicide.’
   • ‘That, like the pacifist option, is the path of political suicide.’
   • ‘It will be political suicide for the Government if the Western Rail Corridor is not reopened, the West On Track group has warned.’
   • ‘Given the state of the town's finances, a 60 per cent rise in allowances would not only have been immoral, but also political suicide.’
   • ‘However I cannot see any Member of Parliament putting up a white paper suggesting this, as it would be political suicide for the individual concerned.’
   • ‘This kind of behavior among liberals is called political suicide.’
   • ‘Unfortunately, we haven't yet reached the point where that kind of bigotry is political suicide in this country.’
   • ‘But he's understandably not interested in committing career suicide.’
   • ‘At least in the immediate aftermath of the election, the editors recognize that that position is political suicide.’
   • ‘‘They've just committed suicide,’ he said of the committee.’
   • ‘Mould's no fool, mind you - to deny his past would be career suicide.’
3. 1.3as modifier Relating to or denoting a military or terrorist operation carried out by people who do not expect to survive it.
   ‘a suicide blast caused more deaths’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Several villages around the cities have also been occupied as the army tries to prevent militants from carrying out suicide bombings.’
   • ‘In his usual style, he had set up entities to carry out the suicide bomb operations that allowed him to deny responsibility for them.’
   • ‘They know that no military operation can stop the suicide bombers.’
   • ‘It was not immediately clear whether the teenager was connected to any of the militant groups that have carried out suicide bombings.’
   • ‘Your squad travels behind enemy lines disabling radio contacts, to better prepare the suicide mission of Operation Overlord.’
   • ‘The explosive charges carried by the suicide bombers were packed with ball bearings and pieces of metal to maximise death and injury.’
   • ‘A man dresses as a suicide bomber and carries a fake bomb.’
   • ‘In past weeks, bombers have carried out heavy suicide bombings but in single strikes.’
   • ‘Since then she has had a string of roles in Hindi cinema, the most notable being her portrayal of a suicide bomber in The Terrorist.’
   • ‘His determination to carry out a suicide bombing was against the wishes of his own family.’
   • ‘Quoting the SAS motto Who Dares Wins, he called on worshippers to ‘out-imagine’ those who carried out suicide bombings.’
   • ‘They said they have been ordered to carry out suicide bombings but decided instead they would give up.’
   • ‘‘The result of the investigation so far indicates that the bombings were carried out by suicide bombers,’ he said.’
   • ‘The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who blew himself up in a parking lot close to a restaurant.’
   • ‘A missile attack on a densely populated area is no more justifiable than a suicide bombing.’
   • ‘Last month's murder of 31 Indians was blamed on three suicide attackers.’
   • ‘The documents showed some entered the country in the days around the suicide hijackings.’
   • ‘What they believed they were searching for was a suicide hijacker or team of hijackers.’

2US A running drill consisting of a sprint to a set point (especially a line on a basketball court) and back to the start, immediately followed by additional sprints of lengthening distances.

Intentionally kill oneself.