How to Use self-destruct in a Sentence

self-destruct

verb
Definition of self-destructnext
Synonyms for self-destructnext
  • The problem caused the spacecraft to self-destruct in space.
    — Aashna Shah, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2024
  • By not acting, the West would be relying on the group to self-destruct.
    — Robin Simcox, Foreign Affairs, 15 Sep. 2014
  • This review will now self-destruct in five, four, three, two….
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 July 2023
  • This led to the engines shutting down early and the self-destruct system ending the mission.
    — George Dvorsky / Gizmodo, Quartz, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Then the Knights self-destructed in the face of Sierra Canyon’s pressure defense.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2024
  • If stocks are low, Moscow could send swarms of self-destructing drones.
    — David L. Stern, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2023
  • During the first test in April, the rocket was forced to self-destruct about three minutes after liftoff when the boosters failed to separate.
    — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 18 Nov. 2023
  • Los Alamitos self-destructed in the fourth quarter with penalties on a key drive.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2023
  • What the buyer didn’t know was that Banksy’s portrait was set to self-destruct by being shredded through its own frame as soon as a winning bid was confirmed.
    — Byryan Hogg, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2023
  • On what would be Herbert’s final drive, the Chargers actually moved the ball, only for them to self-destruct.
    — Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2023
  • The explosion was likely the result of a self-destruct command issued by SpaceX ground control.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 20 Apr. 2023
  • But sacrificing sleep and well-being will only cause you to self-destruct.
    — Allbusiness, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Many of the renegade directors self-destructed in a blaze of coke and ego, or joined the counter-revolution of the blockbuster eighties.
    — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023
  • As his paranoia takes hold, the God of Gods — seeing signs everywhere — starts to dangerously self-destruct.
    — Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 28 June 2024
  • Ukraine’s Air Force said Moscow launched 35 self-destructing drones, all of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
    — David L. Stern, Washington Post, 2 Jan. 2024
  • The smaller, more common self-destructing drones like those flown by Private Yevhen cost a few hundred dollars.
    — Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times, 8 May 2023
  • After the hatchlings finally emerge and swim off into the darkness of the sea, the mothers, as many female octopuses, may self-destruct.
    — Tara Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Aug. 2023
  • About three minutes after SpaceX's Starship rocket launched Thursday morning, the boosters failed to separate, and it was forced to self-destruct.
    — Steve Ganyard, ABC News, 20 Apr. 2023
  • The once faithful servant was ejected from the chariot just before the wax lynchpins gave way, and the chariot self-destructed.
    — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2024
  • The Starship upper stage reached space before self-destructing downrange over the Gulf of Mexico.
    — Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 4 Jan. 2024
  • The self-destruct system kicked in, and Starship blew itself up, according to SpaceX’s commentators, who were narrating the livestream.
    — Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 18 Nov. 2023
  • Rather than exploring Venus, the vehicle was ordered to self-destruct shortly after liftoff.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Engineers activated a self-destruct mechanism while the ship was in mid-air.
    — USA TODAY, 15 Mar. 2024
  • When researchers apply a magnetic field, the nanotubes spin, damaging cancer cells and causing some to self-destruct.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 24 Apr. 2023
  • And finally, there was a bunch of very cool security stuff, including a circuit that self-destructs.
    — Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Observers of the American scene had long since forecast that an independent America would self-destruct in civil wars.
    — Time, 3 July 2023
  • Russia, meanwhile, sent 30 self-destructing drones and a ballistic missile raining down across Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said Tuesday.
    — Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Newer cluster munitions have been designed to reduce the dud-rate and/or implement a backup self-destruct system.
    — Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2023
  • Shortly thereafter, a self-destruct mechanism activated to blow up the rocket.
    — Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
  • The vehicle’s flight termination, or self-destruct, feature was triggered, exploding the spacecraft and booster over the Gulf of Mexico.
    — Jackie Wattles, CNN, 29 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-destruct.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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