Also called: vending machine. a machine that automatically dispenses goods, such as cigarettes, when money is inserted
an area or room, sometimes having restaurant facilities, where food and other goods are supplied from vending machines
An automat is a food-dispensing machine or a restaurant with many such machines. If you prefer getting your take-out without speaking to another human being, an automat is the place to go. The word automat has the same beginning as automatic, meaning "operating with minimal human intervention." Automats were quite popular in the early- to mid-1900s. These restaurants had fresh food selections, usually made on-site and displayed in glass compartments. Diners dropped a coin into a slot beside their chosen dish, turned a knob, and then lifted the glass door to take their food. The original term was automated cafeteria.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Apart from the tellingly-named ghost kitchens, fast-food companies, the successors of the original Automat, seem eager to find out.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2024
Automat Kitchen’s original opening date was postponed from April 2020 because of the pandemic, and many office workers in the building where it is located still have not returned.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2022
“The level of theater, romance and surprise that Horn & Hardart delivered at the Automat shaped how we thought about and built the Starbucks Experience.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2022
As people came into New York, the Automat became part of their American story.
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
He told Francie how he ate in a place called the Automat where you put a nickel in a slot and coffee and cream came out together—not too little, not too much, just a cupful.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
In 1902, Horn & Hardart opened the first automat in Philadelphia.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2024
Mr. Strong drifted in and out of music, working at Chrysler on the production line and at an automat restaurant, among other blue-collar jobs that supported his family.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2023
Though the first “automatic” restaurant appeared in Germany in the 1890s, Hurwitz traced the American phenom to Philadelphia restaurateurs Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, who opened their first automat in that city in 1902.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2022
During the Great Depression, an automat was a warm haven where you could sit all day sipping coffee for a nickel.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2022
“Vision Tower ahead. Prepare to exit,” the automat announced.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
