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Definition of "self-governing" [self-governing]

  • Exercising control or rule over oneself or itself. (adjective)
  • Having the right or power of self-government; autonomous. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "self-governing" in a sentence
  • "Two days earlier, meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Washington, Mr. Obama praised Iraq as a country "that is self-governing, that is inclusive and that has enormous potential.""
  • "The Iraqi leader is expected to accompany Mr. Obama to North Carolina Wednesday, where the president and Mrs. Obama will thank some of the last of US troops returning from Iraq and assure them that, as Obama declared Monday, they delivered an Iraq "that is self-governing, that is inclusive, and that has enormous potential.""
  • "Asked if he still agrees with his onetime characterization of the Iraq war as a "dumb war," Mr. Obama responded, "History will judge the original decision to go into Iraq, but what's absolutely clear is that...what we have now achieved is an Iraq that is self-governing, that is inclusive, and that has enormous potential.""