her‧self S2 W1 /əˈself, hə-; strong hɜː- $ ər-, hər- strong hɜːr-/ pronoun [reflexive form of ‘she’]

1. used to show that the woman or girl who does something is affected by her own action:
She cut herself on some broken glass.
She made herself a cup of coffee.

2.
a) used to emphasize that you are talking about one particular woman or girl:
It must be true that she’s leaving because she told me so herself.
The ornate Town Hall was opened by Queen Victoria herself.
b) used after ‘like’, ‘as’, or ‘except’ instead of ‘her’:
She met other mothers in the same situation as herself.

3. (all) by herself
a) alone:
Miss Bennet lives by herself.
b) without help from anyone else:
The little girl wrote the letter all by herself.

4. not be/feel/seem herself informal if a woman or girl is not herself, she does not feel or behave as she usually does, for example because she is upset or ill:
You must forgive her – she’s not herself at present.

5. have something (all) to herself if a woman or girl has something to herself, she does not have to share it with anyone else:
Alice had the house to herself while her parents were away.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲