assisted suicide

noun

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Examples: assisted suicide in a Sentence

Definition of assisted suicide

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

See assisted suicide defined for English-language learners

Examples of assisted suicide in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of assisted suicide from the Web

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
In Switzerland, and some U.S. states, assisted suicide — where patients administer the lethal drug themselves, under medical supervision — is permitted.

— barry hatton, The Seattle Times, "Portugal considers allowing euthanasia, assisted suicide," 28 May 2018
Not only has the church been historically opposed to medically assisted suicide and euthanasia, its representatives have often vocally advocated on behalf of keeping terminally ill or vegetative patients on life support indefinitely.

— tara isabella burton, Vox, "David Goodall’s physician-assisted suicide raises wider questions.," 21 May 2018
The 104-year-old Australian scientist made headlines last week with his plan to die by assisted suicide in Switzerland.

— char adams, PEOPLE.com, "104-Year-Old Scientist Dies by Assisted Suicide After Flying to Switzerland to End His Life," 10 May 2018
Australia prohibits assisted suicide, but the state of Victoria legalized it last year, allowing terminally ill patients to start ending their lives in 2019.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "104-year-old scientist who traveled to Switzerland to end his life says he's ready to die," 9 May 2018
Many suffer from terminal or incurable illnesses, which is also a valid reason for seeking assisted suicide in some other nations, including Belgium and the Netherlands that have an even more liberal stance.

— rick noack, Washington Post, "This 104-year old Australian academic wants to die — and Switzerland is ready to help," 3 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.

First Known Use of assisted suicide

1884

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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ASSISTED SUICIDE Defined for English Language Learners

assisted suicide

noun

Definition of assisted suicide for English Language Learners

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

Medical 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