Definition of self-mutilation
: the act of inflicting injury or disfigurement to one's own body
The original wound reopened and became dangerously infected, and yet this classic display of canine self-mutilation continued. — Dog Watch But there seem to be, nevertheless, very few cases of actual cowardice. Of these, the majority involve self-mutilation by conscripts, in an attempt to be invalided out of the Army.— Carey Schofield … a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Tuesday ordered the state to pay for the private care of a 19-year- old man suffering from a rare neurological disorder that prompts violent bouts of self-mutilation.— Claudia Puig
specifically
: the act of purposely hurting oneself (as by cutting or burning the skin) as an emotional coping mechanism : self-harm
… the terrible incidence of self-mutilation, or cutting, particularly among young girls. — Judy Quinn
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for self-mutilation
The first known use of self-mutilation was in 1637
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