ha·ra-ki·ri / ˌhärə ˈki(ə)rē; ˌharə-; ˌharē ˈkarē/ • n. ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly practiced in Japan by samurai as an honorable alternative to disgrace or execution. ∎ fig. ostentatious or ritualized self-destruction: you may wonder why you find this software hard to navigate, painfully slow, and prone to hara-kiri.

hara-kiri ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly practised in Japan by samurai as an honourable alternative to disgrace or execution; figuratively, ostentatious or ritualized self-destruction. The word comes (in the mid 19th century) from colloquial Japanese, from hara ‘belly’ + kiri ‘cutting’.

Hara-kiri (Jap.). The means through which Japanese (Shinto and Zen) demonstrate mastery of death through seppuku, by cutting into the hara—the inner part of the body beneath the abdomen, which is believed to be the vital centre of life and control.

hara-kiri suicide by disembowelment. XIX. — Jap., f. hara belly + kiri cutting.