From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishself-examinationˌself-examiˈnation noun [uncountable] 1 THINK ABOUTcareful thought about whether your actions and your reasons for them are right or wrong2 MICHECK/MAKE SUREthe practice of checking parts of your body for early signs of some illnesses
Examples from the Corpus
self-examination• As a result of that intense period of creative self-examination all the symphonies as they are played today date from after 1945.• The proliferation of media studies centers at leading universities can play an increasingly important role in fostering critical self-examination of the media.• Crisis in this context describes a period of intensive self-examination in which one's beliefs and values are re-examined.• But do not get into the habit of morbid self-examination.• It set off a wave of self-examination across the country.• This proliferating self-examination, however, has often been seen as an unlikeable, irresponsible tendency in contemporary literature.• Regular self-examination of your breasts is important.• Out of that self-examination, other actions in their lives may follow.• The problem is that skipping the self-examination is something like finding yourself in a maze with a blindfold on. 