AUTOMATIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does automatic mean? 

• AUTOMATIC (noun)
  The noun AUTOMATIC has 2 senses:

1. light machine gun

2. a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released

  Familiarity information: AUTOMATIC used as a noun is rare.

• AUTOMATIC (adjective)
  The adjective AUTOMATIC has 3 senses:

1. operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control

2. resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine

3. without volition or conscious control

  Familiarity information: AUTOMATIC used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AUTOMATIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Light machine gun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

automatic; automatic rifle; machine rifle

Hypernyms ("automatic" is a kind of...):

automatic firearm; automatic gun; automatic weapon (a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released)

machine gun (a rapidly firing automatic gun (often mounted))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "automatic"):

assault gun; assault rifle (any of the automatic rifles or semiautomatic rifles with large magazines designed for military use)

BAR; Browning automatic rifle (a portable .30 caliber automatic rifle operated by gas pressure and fed by cartridges from a magazine; used by United States troops in World War I and in World War II and in the Korean War)

Derivation:

automatic (operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

automatic; automatic pistol

Hypernyms ("automatic" is a kind of...):

handgun; pistol; shooting iron; side arm (a firearm that is held and fired with one hand)

automatic firearm; automatic gun; automatic weapon (a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released)

Derivation:

automatic (operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control)

• AUTOMATIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control

Context example:

a budget deficit that caused automatic spending cuts

Similar:

self-acting; self-activating; self-moving; self-regulating (designed to activate or move or regulate itself)

smart (capable of independent and apparently intelligent action)

semiautomatic (partially automatic)

self-winding (designed so that manual winding is unnecessary)

self-locking (locking automatically when closed)

automated; machine-controlled; machine-driven (operated by automation)

autoloading; self-loading; semiautomatic ((of firearms) capable of automatic loading and firing continuously)

Also:

mechanical (using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices)

Antonym:

manual (requiring human effort)

Derivation:

automatic (a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released)

automatic (light machine gun)

automatize (make automatic or control or operate automatically)

automaton (a mechanism that can move automatically)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine

Synonyms:

automatic; automatonlike; machinelike; robotic; robotlike

Context example:

machinelike efficiency

Similar:

mechanical (using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices)

Derivation:

automatize (turn into an automaton)

automaton (someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Without volition or conscious control

Synonyms:

automatic; reflex; reflexive

Context example:

sneezing is reflexive

Similar:

involuntary (controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control)

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

 Context examples 

A device that malfunctions because it was incorrectly installed, set-up, or configured (e.g., misconfiguration of an automatic defibrillator to semi-automatic leading to failure)

(Device Installation Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)

Data processing largely performed by automatic means.

(Computer Analysis, NCI Thesaurus)

The algorithms enabled automatic feature tracking to measure the distance that distinctive spots on the glaciers, such as crevasses or patches of dirt, traveled between an earlier and a later image.

(NASA Finds Asian Glaciers Slowed by Ice Loss, NASA)

Managed care has virtually replaced unmanaged indemnity plans, where payment is automatic and oversight procedures are minimal.

(Managed Care, NCI Thesaurus)

Issue associated with the device producing high temperatures, such that its operation is compromised (e.g. overheating that produces melting of components or automatic shutdown).

(Overheating of Medical Device or Device Component, Food and Drug Administration)

Yet his science had, through long practice, become an automatic thing with him, so that he stopped and hit with less power, but with as great accuracy as ever.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The double valves with the automatic self-adjusting slots are drawn in one of the papers which have been returned.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Contagious yawning is triggered involuntarily when we observe another person yawn -it is a common form of echophenomena- the automatic imitation of another's words (echolalia) or actions (echopraxia).

(Why Is Yawning so Contagious?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It was the automatic instinct to live.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Ensembl is a joint project between EMBL-EBI and the Sanger Institute to develop a software system which produces and maintains automatic annotation on selected eukaryotic genomes.

(Ensembl, NCI Thesaurus)