Automat
Americannoun
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Also called: vending machine. a machine that automatically dispenses goods, such as cigarettes, when money is inserted
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an area or room, sometimes having restaurant facilities, where food and other goods are supplied from vending machines
Explanation
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.
Example Sentences
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
It was to be the Automat of the intelligence community, “with its doors never tightly closed and with customers going in and out, day and night,” according to a CIA history.
From Washington Post • May 28, 2022
In 1902, Horn and Hardart imported this equipment and launched the first Horn & Hardart Automat, at 818 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia.
From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022
For people who are younger and remember going to the Automat one or two times, it was this incredible experience, going as a kid.
From New York Times • Feb. 18, 2022
He'd end up an exile washing dishes at the Automat.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
