(of a machine or operation) acting without external influence or control; automatic.
this being a self-acting incline the empty trucks were dragged up by the full ones
Example sentencesExamples
- Precision manufacture of interchangeable parts led to greater and greater division of labor and the invention of self-acting machines that could be operated by workers with less training and experience than traditional craftsmen.
- After 1825, when the self-acting mule spinner automated the process, spinning 100 pounds of cotton took 135 hours.