automatic1 adjectiveautomatic2 noun
automaticau‧to‧mat‧ic1 /ˌɔːtəˈmætɪk◂ $ ˌɒː-/ ●●○ S3 AWL adjective 
WORD ORIGINautomatic1
Origin:
1700-1800 Greek automatos ‘acting by itself’, from auto- ( ➔ AUTO-)EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Automatic lights had come on in various parts of the house.
- a camera with automatic focus
- A teacher's automatic reaction is to correct mistakes in language.
- Elizabeth immediately flew into a rage - her automatic response to any kind of criticism.
- It takes a while before this kind of work feels automatic.
- The camera has a 32mm glass lens, and its automatic shutter allows you to take photos in near-darkness without a flash.
- The merit system replaced automatic yearly pay raises.
- The soldiers lay on the highway with their automatic rifles beside them.
- An automatic scorecard tracks progress around the course.
- Complexity is also a feature of those real-life markets in which convergence also is neither swift nor automatic.
- Mode A is the identification mode, whilst Mode C is the automatic altitude reporting mode.
- The automatic transmission, an $ 815 stand-alone option in the tester, was nothing to brag about for smoothness of operation.
- The fall led to a five-tenths automatic deduction, and each foot out of bounds counted one-tenth of a point.
- The Soviet Union, in preparation for manned landings, then concentrated on landing automatic unmanned spacecraft on the lunar surface.
- Treacly piped music from inside slopped out each time the automatic doors opened.
Longman Language Activatorrelating to or done by machines
using machines, or getting power from an engine: · In a bakery, the bread is rarely kneaded by hand but by large mechanical mixers.mechanical problem/fault/failure (=when a machine is not working properly): · A mechanical problem may be to blame for the crash.mechanical device: · Flemma said that a reliable mechanical device was needed for the thousands of patients who die while awaiting human heart transplants.
automatic washing machines, weapons etc are designed to operate by themselves, without much human control or attention: · Automatic lights had come on in various parts of the house.· The camera has a 32mm glass lens, and its automatic shutter allows you to take photos in near-darkness without a flash.automatic weapon/rifle (=one that can fire many bullets quickly): · The soldiers lay on the highway with their automatic rifles beside them.
when you do or say something without thinking · Without thinking, Charlotte hugged the girl to try to comfort her.without thinking about · Most US companies are still spewing out carbon dioxide without thinking about its potential costs.
spoken if you give an answer off the top of your head , you say it without thinking about it for very long and without being sure it is correct: · "How much is the house worth?" "Off the top of my head, I'd say it's worth maybe $160,000."
if you say or do something in the heat of the moment , you do it very suddenly and without thinking when you are feeling angry or excited, so that you feel sorry about it afterwards: · "In the heat of the moment, my emotions took over and I hit him," Harper admitted.· Our children need to know not only how to prevent pregnancies, but also the long-term effects of a decision they make in the heat of the moment.
an automatic response, reaction, or answer is one that happens immediately and without you having to think, especially because you have done it many times before: · A teacher's automatic reaction is to correct mistakes in language.· Elizabeth immediately flew into a rage - her automatic response to any kind of criticism.
if you do something automatically , you do it as a natural reaction and without thinking, because it is what you always do: · His mother continued to talk angrily, and Tim's thoughts automatically switched to more pleasant subjects.· You cannot automatically assume that everything your teacher says is correct.
a reflex action, response, or movement is a physical movement that you make as a natural reaction to something, without having to think about doing it: · a reflex eye movement· At birth, an infant can perform only simple reflex actions and behaviours.
a reaction that someone makes without thinking at all, because it is the way they always react - use this about a reaction that you expect and disapprove of: · Their knee-jerk reaction is to object to everything the management suggests.· If a journalist's judgement is questioned, the knee-jerk reaction is usually, "I have a right to print whatever I want, so I will."
an off-the-cuff remark is one that you make without thinking carefully and without any preparation: · The press officer said that the president's statement was an off-the-cuff remark, not as an official statement of policy.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
My camera is fully automatic.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
My camera is fully automatic. (=an automatic gun)· He was shot 120 times with automatic weapons.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· It came out regularly, and an illusion grew that the process was almost automatic.· In many areas where congressional assent is necessary, it is almost automatic.· It is possible to specify the various style elements within the word processor file so making the document generation process almost automatic.· Moreover, the questionnaire permits the almost automatic dissemination of information in directory format, and it is then a saleable product.· But indulgence in this small personal ritual was almost automatic.· Historians have since described and explained how torture was a loathsome, almost automatic feature of colonial wars.· The almost automatic acceptance of those same initiatives by the legislature as a whole is assured by the formidable mechanisms of party.· The practice of personal hygiene is an almost automatic daily activity.
· It had a spring suspension axle for which a fully automatic tracking axle system is also available.· After the war, semi-and fully automatic rifles were developed.· The Slotopal On-Line Analyser from Schloetter is for fully automatic titrations of plating bath constituents and other processes.· Honda also designed the four-wheel-drive system, which engages only when needed and is fully automatic.· Our fully automatic video cameras are so easy to use - just point the camera and press the record button!· If there was a drawback, it was the rate of fire on fully automatic.· Such control is often fully automatic.· This pump-house was fully automatic and the latest example of technological design.
NOUN· Nor, critics pointed out, did it give blacks automatic access to home ownership in previously white areas.· If the link is being removed, the user will no longer have automatic access to your modules.· A module password must be supplied if you do not have automatic access to the module.
· With its automatic controls and large capacity, it can cook an entire meal for all the family all on its own.· The story of automation is the story of a one-way shift from human control to automatic control.· This includes a minute minder facility and provides full automatic control of the main oven.· The advent of automatic control has come in three stages and has spawned three nearly metaphysical changes in human culture.· Pallets may be placed away either under manual or automatic control according to the control system chosen.· The avalanche effects of employing automatic control in the production of goods were not all obvious.· Even when practising variants it is good to finish by practising the words in a frame - it helps in getting automatic control.· Down on the factory floor, automatic control had the expected virtue of moderating high-powered energy sources as mentioned earlier.
· Treacly piped music from inside slopped out each time the automatic doors opened.· Even the station quays were air-conditioned, closed off from the tunnels by special automatic doors so that no energy was wasted.· He says, we have lifts, automatic doors, disabled fitting rooms and shopping trolleys.· A gush of heat by the automatic doors.· An automatic door will be provided for the disabled.· There was a pause, the automatic doors unclenched.· After a moment the automatic doors opened, and the crew climbed out.
· The advanced automatic gearbox available on 1.4-litre models is superior to most cars in its class in offering four forward speeds.· Why didn't kidnappers choose automatic gearboxes?· It offers an automatic gearbox-one of the new generation of electronic designs which tries to be very clever.· Power assisted steering is standard on all models equipped with automatic gearboxes.· These include fitting an automatic gearbox, hand controlled brakes and accelerator, extending seat runners and moving foot pedals.
· I leapt out of bed and dressed on automatic pilot.· We fool ourselves by thinking we can go on automatic pilot, that we can survive by going through the motions.· By now I was talking and singing on automatic pilot whilst my heart and brain were thudding with a heady mixture of adrenalin.· What others do on automatic pilot becomes a tiresome, anxious, effortful task.· If she could get to Tottenham Court Road tube station, she could get home almost on automatic pilot.· I was on automatic pilot, doing what I do best.· She had been so immersed in her anger and indignation that she had been working on automatic pilot herself.· I've been on automatic pilot for 25 years.
· All these men were encumbered with their heavy loads and had only automatic pistols.· Two of them are automatic pistols, caliber twenty-two, manufactured by High Standard.· The man's face was white and mean and he was pointing an automatic pistol at Charles' chest.· He will identify those two automatic pistols as weapons he test-fired at the Ballistics Lab in order to obtain exemplary rounds.· Suddenly he pulled out a silver automatic pistol and fired a barrage at the driver's head.
· Or is it more akin to mechanics whereby a given stimulus produces an automatic response?· The oldest, the limbic system, directs our deep automatic responses.· Whatever their origin, they are now highly controlled and automatic responses to this situation.· Putting my hands and feet lightly on the controls was a completely automatic response by this time.· Financial need, even on the part of a close relative, has apparently never been seen as a situation which required an automatic response.· My heart went out to her, an instantaneous and automatic response.· The mind must try to lull the body into the automatic response that has been instilled during practice.· Shocked by the weird question I hang up, but I immediately regret my automatic response.
· They are holding automatic rifles and wearing steel helmets.· After the war, semi-and fully automatic rifles were developed.· It said villagers were forming detachments, many of them equipped with automatic rifles and home-made explosives.· Walking in front of Converse was a little man called the Caporal who carried a Browning automatic rifle decorated with hibiscus.· He wore a mottled camouflage jacket and a lightweight stetson and carried an automatic rifle.· They rested on a bank, automatic rifles stacked beside them.· He heard the fluttering of bullets before the fast slap-slap-slap of an automatic rifle.· The police in Baku carry automatic rifles.
· Except unusually, receiving personal care from relatives is not seen by either party as an automatic right.· In a constitutional democracy, there are individuals whose status or office gives them the automatic right to be heard.· We have no automatic right to Group work but we do try to be the preferred contractor.· The bill also allows the Lord Chancellor to restrict the automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal.· Additionally, there is no automatic right to adjust pleadings.
· The speeder froze in mid-air for just a moment, while its computers coped with the sudden assault on the automatic systems.· This automatic system monitors the position, closure rate and altitude of nearby aircraft, identifying potentially threatening intruders.· While not a fault tolerant machine or likely ever to be one, Dragon has automatic system recovery for fault resilience.· The pilot maintained that he tried to pull up but automatic systems prevented that.· Socially the public will not easily accept automatic systems.· With an automatic system a few simple alterations to the style sheet and it's all done for you.
· In 1979, there were only 1,200 automatic teller machines in Britain, compared with 17,500 now.· In January 1996, McGill disappeared after withdrawing $ 50 from an automatic teller machine.· Along the way, he stopped at a twenty-four-hour Citibank and checked his balance with the automatic teller.
· They are equipped with full cab signalling and automatic train protection to assist the drivers.· He served on a number of government committees, including those on automatic train control and on railway electrification.· The cars will be fully air-conditioned, and equipped with Marta's standard automatic train control system.
· The new company will market the transmissions but will subcontract the manufacture of the automatic transmission.· Most of you probably will want automatic transmission, which adds another $ 975.· Meanwhile, the Mondeo becomes the first Ford to use a new electronically-controlled four-speed automatic transmission system.· A / C, dishwashers, automatic transmissions, frozen dinners, and liberal theologians.· Yes, it had a heater and, what's more, you could even have air conditioning and automatic transmission.· It did not have Powerglide automatic transmission.· Grants Power steering, automatic transmissions, hand-controlled accelerator and brake and swivel seats are often required.· It turns in very firmly, with surprising power response, when ordering the automatic transmission to think quickly.
· Its automatic weapons chatter nightly, and mortars crump in reply.· Pepper spray is not automatic weapons fire.· I kept hearing aircraft passing low overhead and sporadic gunfire from automatic weapons.· At that point, small arms and automatic weapons opened up.· As the protest grew, the troops came in with automatic weapons, armoured vehicles and teargas.· One guy had a canteen on his hip which was shot off; it was automatic weapons.· Shortly after 2 a. m., a large truck pulled up with 40 men with automatic weapons.· A force of 70 gunmen opened fire on the compound with automatic weapons and grenade-launchers, according to presidential guard commander Maj.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- I wasn't really asleep - I was just kind of running on automatic pilot.
- I was on automatic pilot, doing what I do best.
- Tommy Blue was on automatic pilot.
WORD FAMILYadjectiveautomaticautomatednounautomationadverbautomatically
1an automatic machine is designed to work without needing someone to operate it for each part of a process: an automatic weapon an automatic gearbox My camera is fully automatic.2something that is automatic always happens as a result of something you have done, especially because of a rule or law: Littering results in an automatic fine.3done without thinking, especially because you have done the same thing many times before: Practise the breathing techniques until they become automatic.automatic1 adjectiveautomatic2 noun
automaticautomatic2 noun [countable] 1a weapon that can fire bullets continuously2a car with a system of gears that operate themselves without the driver needing to change them