From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishself-preservationˌself-preserˈvation noun [uncountable] PROTECTprotection of yourself and your own life in a threatening or dangerous situation the instinct for self-preservation
Examples from the Corpus
self-preservation• Politics and self-preservation must come first, never mind the majority of the people.• Otherwise a decreasing fraction of the flow would be turbulent, and, for example, self-preservation could not occur.• More generally, the instinctive drive for self-preservation led to the emergence of a range of public and governmental institutions.• But his adaptability did not apply to his tenets, merely to his instinct for self-preservation.• What seems to motivate Congress is self-preservation - a desire to get re-elected.• There is a feeling of self-preservation here; for what shuts out happiness for some does so for me and mine.• It was a matter of self-preservation.• But I also joined out of self-preservation.• Thoughts around Salomon Brothers turned away from the greater glory of the firm and focused on self-preservation. 