Automatic

/ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/ · adjective

Meaning

Capable of operating without external control or intervention..

Definitions by Sense

1. Capable of operating without external control or intervention.
2. Done out of habit or without conscious thought.
3. Necessary, inevitable, prescribed by logic, law, etc.
4. (of a firearm such as a machine gun) Firing continuously as long as the trigger is pressed until ammunition is exhausted.
5. (of a handgun) An autoloader; a semi-automatic or self-loading pistol, as opposed to a revolver or other manually actuated handgun, which fires one shot per pull of the trigger; distinct from machine guns.
6. (programming, of a local variable) Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
7. (mathematics, of a group) Having one or more finite-state automata.
8. A car with an automatic transmission; the transmission itself.

Example Sentences

The automatic clothes washer was a great labor-saving device.

"But you know of the automatic card-player?" […] Carrados had heard more than once casual allusions to a wonderful mechanical contrivance that played cards with discrimination.

The reaction was automatic: flight!

Absent-minded doodling is a form of automatic art.

"I don't know why! Sometimes I feel like a girl! Sometimes a guy! I don't know why I feel that way! I just do! Always have! I can't remember not feeling this way! How do you explain something as natural and automatic to you as breathing?!"

Spitting at another player means an automatic red card.

Fully automatic weapons cannot be legally owned by private citizens in the US, except in very special circumstances, as by private security companies.

The US Army adopted John Browning's M1911 pistol as its sidearm, chambered in .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).

Synonyms for automatic

Antonyms for automatic

Related Words

Word Forms

• more automatic
• most automatic
• dubious
• automatick
• automatics

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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