| 释义 |
self-deˈstruct, v. orig. N. Amer.
[f. self- 1 a, h: cf. destruct v.]
1. intr. Of a thing: to destroy itself automatically. Also fig.
1969Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 30 Mar. 43/4 This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds but the printed message is the one that lives on. 1970New Yorker 28 Nov. 58 Our definition of ‘history’ is going to change as we raise our consciousness. Our definition's going to—it's going to self-destruct. 1973Guardian 18 June 4/6 Watergate came from within. The system itself has begun to self-destruct. 1977D. Francis Risk xiv. 188 He's programmed to self-destruct before the end of the season... He'll go bust to the bookies. 1979R. Perry Bishop's Pawn i. 14 The tape would automatically self-destruct after twenty minutes.
Hence as n.; self-destructing ppl. a.
1970New Scientist 27 Aug. 406 (title) Self-destructing proteins may tick away our years. 1972Village Voice 1 June 25/3 These are finally not poems or plays or stories, but self-destructs. 1977Daily Tel. 21 May 12/4 Built into the whole modernist adventure was a kind of self-destruct. 1978J. McNeil Consultant xxxvi. 295 Alloway's program has done a convenient self-destruct.
2. attrib. as adj. phr.
1966R. W. Taylor Doomsday Sq. iii. 36 There's a double safeguard in a self-destruct system that would operate automatically in case of navigational error. 1969M. Crichton Andromeda Strain x. 108 At the lowest level of this laboratory is an automatic self-destruct device. 1975J. Grady Shadow of Condor xvi. 250 He flicked the last strap holding him to the machine. He also punched the delayed self-destruct switch. |