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assisted suicide
noun
: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person
especially
: physician-assisted suicide
Examples of assisted suicide in a Sentence
a doctor who has been involved in several assisted suicides
an opponent of assisted suicide
Recent Examples on the Web
There are unresolved controversies: Should assisted suicide be legal as Michigan's Dr. Jack Kevorkian advocated and carried out?
—
Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 28 June 2024
From the growth of the labor movement to high-profile sports scandals to assisted suicides and shocking true crime, news stories from Detroit have written themselves into recent American history.
—
Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 28 June 2024
Disability advocates already must fight harder against a system that views their lives as worth less than others, and assisted suicide firmly places a target on their backs.
—
Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 21 May 2024
New Zealand legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2021 for terminally ill patients aged 18 and older.
—
Devika Rao, theweek, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for assisted suicide ![](/dist-cross-dungarees/2024-09-11--20-03-54-ii7pg/images/svg/redesign/arrow-right-exemplar.svg)
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assisted suicide.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1884, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near assisted suicide
Cite this Entry
“Assisted suicide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assisted%20suicide. Accessed 12 Sep. 2024.
Medical Definition
assisted suicide
noun
variants
also assisted death
: the act of suicide carried out by someone with assistance from another person
Surveys also show assisted suicides are taking place covertly, often without a doctor's help.—
Mark O'Keefe, The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)
especially
: physician-assisted suicide
Six of the 15 patients who chose assisted suicide in the act's first year had to ask more than one doctor before finding a physician who would write a lethal prescription. —
Barry Siegel, The Los Angeles Times
Legal Definition
assisted suicide
noun
: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person
especially
: physician-assisted suicide
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