noun. Suicide by disembowelment, formerly practised in Japan by daimios and members of the military class when unwilling to survive some personal or family disgrace, or in order to avoid the headsman's sword after having received sentence of death.

noun. Hence, suicide; self-destruction.

noun. A ritual form of suicide, by slashing the abdomen, formerly practiced in Japan, and commanded by the government in the cases of disgraced officials; disembowelment; -- also written, but incorrectly, hari-kari.

noun. Alternative spelling of hara-kiri.

noun. ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword; practiced by samurai in the traditional Japanese society

noun. ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword; practiced by samurai in the traditional Japanese society

"They had a feast and the authority for this is the cook -- I forget his name; it's probably here in a footnote -- and they dressed in their ceremonial robes and they had the word "harakiri" -- it means "stomach cutting" -- and they had the ceremonial knife ..."

hara-kiri  

self-annihilation  self-destruction  suicide  

disembowelment  suicide