Word.ws English Dictionary

self-destructing

self-destructing is the present participle and gerund of self-destruct.

Meaning of self-destruct

Verb

self-destruct (third-person singular simple present self-destructs, present participle self-destructing, simple past and past participle self-destructed)

  1. (figuratively, usually) To destroy oneself or itself.
    • The submarine was primed to self-destruct.
    Synonyms:
    autodestruct
  2. To destroy or greatly damage one's position in a game, in one's work or career, in one's financial or social position, etc.
    • If you attack with an energy level of only 30 you are going to self-destruct.

See all 3 meanings of self-destruct

Questions about self-destructing

What is self-destructing the present participle and gerund of?
Self-destructing is the present participle and gerund of self-destruct.

Words near self-destructing in the dictionary

  1. self-despair
  2. self-destroyer
  3. self-destroyers
  4. self-destruct
  5. self-destructed
  6. self-destructing
  7. self-destruction
  8. self-destructions
  9. self-destructive
  10. self-destructively
  11. self-destructiveness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: self-destructing (page history and authors); self-destruct (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “self-destructing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/self-destructing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.