Automatic
Au·to·mat·ic
Automatic
a.
-
Having an inherent power of action or motion.
Nothing can be said to be automatic.
- Pertaining to, or produced by, an automaton; of the nature of an automaton; self-acting or self-regulating under fixed conditions; operating with minimal human intervention; -- esp. applied to machinery or devices in which certain things formerly or usually done by hand are done by the machine or device itself; as, the automatic feed of a lathe; automatic gas lighting; an automatic engine or switch; an automatic mouse; an automatic transmission. The opposite of manual.
-
Not voluntary; not depending on the will; mechanical; controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control; as, automatic movements or functions. The opposite of voluntary. (Physiol.)
Unconscious or automatic reasoning.
- like the unthinking functioning of a machine.
Phrases & Compounds
- Automatic arts
- such economic arts or manufacture as are carried on by self-acting machinery.
automatic
n.
- light machine gun.
- a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released; as, a .45 automatic.