automatic
Noun pluralautomatics
Pluralautomatics
- 1Able to work by itself without a person controlling it.
Like a light that turns itself on at night without anyone touching the switch.
The lights in the hallway are automatic and turn on by themselves.
The new coffee maker is automatic, brewing a pot at the time you set.
Similarself-operating
Oppositemanual
Note
- 2Done without thinking, because you are used to doing it.
Like blinking: you do it without ever deciding to.
Stopping at a red light becomes automatic after years of driving.
Her reply was automatic because she had said it so many times.
Similarinstinctive, thoughtless, perfunctory
Oppositevoluntary
Note
- 3A car that changes gears by itself, or the gear part that does the changing.
She prefers driving an automatic because she never has to change gears.
My first car was an automatic, which made busy city streets much easier.
Oppositemanual, stick, stickshift
Note
- 4Sure to happen because a rule or law requires it.
If you break that rule, the penalty is automatic.
Winning the match gives the team an automatic place in the finals.
Similarmandatory, compulsory, obligatory, inevitable
Oppositediscretionary, optional
- 5Firing bullets again and again while the trigger is held down, until the bullets run out.
Like a hose that keeps spraying as long as you hold the handle open.
An automatic rifle keeps shooting for as long as you hold down the trigger.
The gunner switched to automatic fire and emptied the belt in seconds.
Note
- 6A handgun that loads the next bullet by itself after each shot.
He kept an automatic in the drawer beside his bed.
The officer drew her automatic and ordered the men to stop.
Similarsemiautomatic
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- 7Of a pistol, loading each new bullet by itself and firing one shot per trigger pull.
An automatic pistol reloads itself, so the shooter only needs to pull the trigger.
Many police officers carry automatic handguns instead of revolvers.
Similarsemiautomatic, self-loading
Note
- 8Built from one or more simple machines that move through a fixed set of states.
Like a board game where you move from square to square by following set rules.
The students studied an automatic group built from simple state machines.
An automatic structure lets a computer check answers using basic state machines.
Note
- 9Created and deleted by itself when a part of a program runs and then finishes.
Like scratch paper you grab to do one sum and throw away when you're done.
An automatic variable disappears once the function that created it finishes.
The local values here are automatic, so the computer clears them out by itself.
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Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From a Latin word based on Greek automaton, meaning something that moves by itself. It comes from Greek parts meaning 'self' and 'to strive or desire'.