ATM

PluralATMs

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountableinitialism

   Initialism of automated teller machine or automatic teller machine.

   She stopped at an ATM to withdraw cash for the taxi ride.

   Her bank refunds the fees she pays at any out-of-network ATM.

   Note

   The letters are spoken one by one, so the cash machine takes an rather than a: an ATM. The plural adds a plain s with no apostrophe, ATMs, as in a row of ATMs in the station lobby. Automated teller machine and automatic teller machine both stand behind the letters, and they name the same machine.

2. 2
   phraseinitialism

   Initialism of at the moment.

   Super busy ATM. Can I text you back tonight?

   ATM I'm just browsing, but I might order one next week.

   Note

   In texts and online chat the letters work as an adverb of time, at either end of a short message: busy ATM, or ATM I'm just browsing. They keep only the present meaning of at the moment, right now, and never its dated sense of at that time. In anything formal, write the phrase out.

3. 3
   noun · atmcountable

   Short for atmosphere, the unit of pressure.

   The reaction was run at room temperature and 1 atm.

   The steel cylinder stores the gas at a pressure of 200 atm.

4. 4
   nounslangcountable or uncountable

   Any person, group, or thing that serves as a source of large amounts of money.

   Voters are tired of their state being treated as the federal government's ATM.

   Fans say the league treats them like a personal ATM, raising ticket prices every season.

   Note

   Slang borrows the cash machine as a picture of anyone others draw money from at will. It usually comes with a possessive or a modifier, as in the nation's political ATM or his parents' personal ATM, and it carries a complaint: whatever is called an ATM gives a lot and gets little back. It suits opinion writing and talk rather than neutral reporting.

5. 5
   nounvulgarcountable or uncountableinitialism

   Initialism of ass to mouth.

   She told the director she would not do any ATM scenes.

   Doctors warn that ATM can spread infections between partners.

   Note

   This belongs to the vocabulary of pornography and is vulgar anywhere else; it is also written A2M. Because the same letters usually mean a cash machine or a technical name, a reader takes this meaning only when the context is plainly sexual. Outside frank talk about sex or sexual health, it has no place.

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