autocide

English

Etymology 1

From auto- +‎ -cide.

Noun

autocide (countable and uncountable, plural autocides)

1. (agriculture) Control of a pest through propagation of sterile males.
   • 1975, Dennis S. Hill, Agricultural Insect Pests of the Tropics and Their Control, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 22:

     Generally, autocide is most effective when applied to restricted populations (islands, etc.), but can be effective on parts of continents.

2. (bacteriology) A substance produced by a bacterium that is fatal to that bacterium.
   • 2001, “Myxococcales”, in David R. Boone et al., editors, Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, →ISBN, page 1065:

     Five different autocides have been isolated from Myxococcus xanthus.

3. (obsolete, rare) A suicidal person.

Derived terms

• autocidal

Etymology 2

From auto +‎ -cide; see auto (“automobile”).

Noun

autocide (countable and uncountable, plural autocides)

1. An act of suicide committed by crashing a car.
   • 1993 December 13, “Northbridge Educators Alerted to Depression Among Students”, in Worcester Telegram Gazette‎^[1]:

     "Autocide is becoming the second most popular method for older teens to commit suicide," she said.

2. An act of killing someone with an automobile.

Anagrams

• ecoaudit