Definition of AUTOMATIC

automatic

Plural: automatics

Noun

  • light machine gun
  • a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released
  • A car with an automatic transmission; the transmission itself.
  • A semi-automatic pistol.

Adjective

  • operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control
    • "automatic transmission"
    • "a budget deficit that caused automatic spending cuts"

Adjective Satellite

  • resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine
    • "an automatic `thank you'"
  • without volition or conscious control
    • "the automatic shrinking of the pupils of the eye in strong light"

Adj

  • Capable of operating without external control or intervention.
  • Done out of habit or without conscious thought.
  • Necessary, inevitable, prescribed by logic, law, etc.
  • Firing continuously as long as the trigger is pressed until ammunition is exhausted.
  • 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.
  • Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
  • Having one or more finite-state automata.

Examples

  • Absent-minded doodling is a form of automatic art.
  • Fully automatic weapons cannot be legally owned by private citizens in the US, except in very special circumstances, as by private security companies.
  • I never learned to drive a stick. I can only drive an automatic.
  • Spitting at another player means an automatic red card.
  • The automatic clothes washer was a great labor-saving device.
  • The G-men raiding the speakeasy were equipped with .45 automatics, while the local policemen were carrying revolvers and shotguns.
  • The reaction was automatic: flight!
  • The US Army adopted John Browning's M1911 pistol as its sidearm, chambered in .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from French automatique, from Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self-moving, moving of oneself, self-acting, spontaneous”), from αὐτός (autós, “self, myself”) + μέμαα (mémaa, “to wish eagerly, strive, yearn, desire”).

Synonyms

automatic pistol, automatic rifle, automatonlike, machine rifle, machinelike, reflex, reflexive, robotic, robotlike, instinctive, perfunctory, self-operating, thoughtless

Antonyms

manual, manual transmission, manual#Noun_2, non-automatic, standard transmission, stick, stick shift, stickshift, voluntary

Scrabble Score: 13

automatic: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
automatic: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
automatic: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

automatic: valid Words With Friends Word