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self-preservation. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
From self- + preservation.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌsɛlfˌpɹɛzɜˈɹ.veɪ.ʃən/
Noun
self-preservation (uncountable)
- The instinctive behaviour that protects oneself from harm.
1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by The Wolf (Harvey Keitel):I'm here to tell you want to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you better fuckin' do it and do it quick.
2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:Yet had the whole train and all its bombs gone, had the engine crew merely jumped from the train and run as simple self-preservation would have suggested, or unhitched just the engine to make their escape faster, the whole town would have gone and most of the people with it, leaving just a smoking wasteland. Hundreds would have died.
Translations