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hara kiri

 - 3 dictionary results

ha⋅ra-ki⋅ri

  [hahr-uh-keer-ee, har-uh-, har-ee-]
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–noun
1. Also called seppuku. ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen with a dagger or knife: formerly practiced in Japan by members of the warrior class when disgraced or sentenced to death.
2. suicide or any suicidal action; a self-destructive act: political hara-kiri.
Also, hari-kari.

Origin:
1855–60; < Japn, equiv. to hara belly (earlier fara < *para) + kiri cut
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

hara-kiri [(har-i-keer-ee, hahr-uh-keer-ee)]

A ritual of suicide, associated with warriors in traditional Japanese society.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

hara-kiri 
"suicide by disembowelment," 1856, from Japanese, "belly-cutting," the colloquial word for what is formally called seppuku "cut open the stomach," from hara "belly" + kiri "to cut."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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