assisted suicide

noun

Definition of assisted suicide

: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person especially : physician-assisted suicide

Examples of assisted suicide in a Sentence

a doctor who has been involved in several assisted suicides an opponent of assisted suicide

Recent Examples on the Web

The bill declares that obtaining or administering life-ending medication is not suicide under state law, thereby legalizing the practice often called medically assisted suicide. — USA TODAY, "Retired monkeys, freeze-dried blood, ‘Hidden Figures Way’: News from around our 50 states," 14 June 2019 The bill declares that obtaining or administering life-ending medication is not suicide under state law, thereby legalizing the practice often called medically assisted suicide. — NBC News, "Maine becomes 8th state to legalize assisted suicide," 12 June 2019 Maine became the eighth state in the U.S. to legalize medically assisted suicide after Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill into law on Wednesday. — Fox News, "Maine is 8th state to legalize assisted suicide," 13 June 2019 Hawaii became the sixth state to legalize medically assisted suicide in April when Gov. David Ige signed the legislation into law. — Audrey Mcavoy, The Seattle Times, "Hawaii retirement home clarifies assisted suicide rules," 13 Nov. 2018 Last year, Victoria became the first state in the country to legalize assisted suicide but the law only applies to terminally ill patients and won't be an option until mid-2019. — William Cummings, USA TODAY, "104-year-old Australian scientist travels to Switzerland to end his life," 2 May 2018 He was transferred to a hospital in Belgium, where his father lived, and which allows assisted suicide. — Elizabeth Llorente | Fox News, Fox News, "Woman whose ex killed himself after she attacked him with acid gets life sentence," 25 May 2018 Australia bans assisted suicide, so Goodall flew from his home in Perth to Switzerland, where the practice is legal. — Editors, USA TODAY, "Gina Haspel's confirmation hearing, Pompeo visits North Korea: 5 things to know Wednesday," 9 May 2018 In Switzerland, and some U.S. states, assisted suicide — where patients administer the lethal drug themselves, under medical supervision — is permitted. — NBC News, "Portugal's parliament rejects euthanasia, doctor-assisted suicide," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'assisted suicide.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

4 Jul 2019

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Time Traveler for assisted suicide

The first known use of assisted suicide was in 1884

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More Definitions for assisted suicide

assisted suicide

noun

English Language Learners Definition of assisted suicide

: suicide with help from another person (such as a doctor) to end suffering from severe physical illness

See the full definition for assisted suicide in the English Language Learners Dictionary

assisted suicide

noun

variants: also assisted death

Medical Definition of assisted suicide

: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person Surveys also show assisted suicides are taking place covertly, often without a doctor's help. — Mark O'Keefe, The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 5 Oct. 1997 especially : physician-assisted suicide Six of the 15 patients who chose assisted suicide in the act's first year had to ask more than one doctor before finding a physician who would write a lethal prescription. — Barry Siegel, The Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 1999