Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Ritual suicide by disembowelment formerly practiced by Japanese samurai.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
hara-kiri .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Same as
hara-kiri .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A form of
ritual suicide bydisembowelment using a blade, practiced by Japanesesamurai , especially to rid oneself of shame, as a means of protest or, formerly, as a method of capital punishment.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword; practiced by samurai in the traditional Japanese society
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Harikari, also known as seppuku, is Japanese in origin.
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Careful, she might get confused by that funny-sounding Japanese word and think that seppuku is what happens when you drink too much alcohol.
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Careful, she might get confused by that funny-sounding Japanese word and think that seppuku is what happens when you drink too much alcohol.
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Ever hear of a lovely Japanese thing called seppuku?
Dead Zero Stephen Hunter 2010
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Ever hear of a lovely Japanese thing called seppuku?
Dead Zero Stephen Hunter 2010
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Ancient samurai were famous for committing ritual suicide by disemboweling themselves with their swords, which was called seppuku or harakiri (two ways to read the same kanji characters).
Weird Asia News 2009
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After that tragedy, "seppuku" was forbidden, and is now an anachronism. by
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"Hara kiri," however, is the vulgar term for "seppuku," the ritual self-disembowelment practiced during feudal times in Japan.
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It should be stated further that in the case of "seppuku," as soon as the act of cutting the abdomen had been completed, always by a single rapid stroke, someone from behind would, with a single blow, behead the victim.
Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic Sidney Lewis Gulick 1902
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The physical agony of "seppuku" was, therefore, very brief, lasting but a few seconds.
Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic Sidney Lewis Gulick 1902
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