as in to implode
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Recent Examples of self-destruct
Researchers from Rutgers University have figured out a way to make plastics that can be programmed to self-destruct.
—
Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 29 Nov. 2025
The radical outliers self-destruct during the high jinks (they get arrested or killed), but most people exhaust themselves and are happy to return to their workweek lives.
—Chuck Palahniuk, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
Today’s software needs to prevent problems from happening, not proliferate them or self-destruct.
—Laura Crabtree, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025
Halfmann found it a bit unsettling to think that so many cells carry these self-destruct buttons just waiting to be pushed.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-destruct
Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 29 Nov. 2025
The radical outliers self-destruct during the high jinks (they get arrested or killed), but most people exhaust themselves and are happy to return to their workweek lives.
—Chuck Palahniuk, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
Today’s software needs to prevent problems from happening, not proliferate them or self-destruct.
—Laura Crabtree, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025
Halfmann found it a bit unsettling to think that so many cells carry these self-destruct buttons just waiting to be pushed.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-destruct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-destruct
Verb
-
Ambitious, capricious, Catalina is accustomed to getting her way, until her life in Spain implodes forcing her to flee to Cuba, to confront her mistakes, guilt and need to rebuild her entire life.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
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When Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan instead raised rates, the portfolio imploded.—
John Seiler,
Oc Register,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Gang violence, death threats and a crumbling judicial system have stalled an ongoing investigation.—
David Fischer,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
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Last summer, the fastball effectiveness crumbled.—
Sahadev Sharma,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The late 1990s buildout of fiber-optic networks, in which companies spent billions to pull dark fiber across continents and under oceans, saw borrowers like WorldCom, Global Crossing, and others go under.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
7 Mar. 2026
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Army veteran Naomi Sawyer can go under the sea with sharks.—
Carolyn Gusoff,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-destruct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-destruct. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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