autotomy.

The detachment of a body part by an animal as a defense or escape response.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• tail autotomy
• defensive autotomy

On the page

Tail autotomy left the predator gripping only a twitching fragment.

The biologist suspected autotomy rather than an accidental injury.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Usually uncountable; plural autotomies for distinct processes or cases. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.