self-preservation

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English

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Etymology

From self- +‎ preservation.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌsɛlfˌpɹɛzɜˈɹ.veɪ.ʃən/

Noun

self-preservation (uncountable)

  1. 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