automate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
automates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
automated,
past participle, past
-
automating
present participle
-
to apply the principles of automation to (a mechanical process, industry, office, etc.).
-
to operate or control by automation.
-
to displace or make obsolete by automation (often followed byout ).
The unskilled jobs are going to be automated out.
verb (used without object)
-
automates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
automated,
past participle, past
-
automating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
automatesimple
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automatessimple
-
have automatedperfect
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has automatedperfect
-
am automatingprogressive
-
are automatingprogressive
-
is automatingprogressive
-
have been automatingperfect progressive
-
has been automatingperfect progressive
Past
-
automatedsimple
-
had automatedperfect
-
was automatingprogressive
-
were automatingprogressive
-
had been automatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of automate
First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from automation
Explanation
When you design a machine to complete a process once done by a human, you automate the process. Standardized tests once had to be graded by hand, now they're automated, i.e. done by computers. If you automate a factory, workers might lose jobs to robots and machines. A century ago, if you did laundry, you had to turn the clothes in the drum by hand. It was really hard work, so hard that in many families one day was set aside as laundry day and everyone had to help. In 1937, the first electric, or automated, washer was sold, with a motor that turned the drum. Since then, the job has become much easier, though most of us still find it a chore.
Vocabulary lists containing automate
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Do it Yourself: Words Beginning with "AUTO"
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: auto
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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.
See Examples For:
Venture capitalists are pouring billions into AI assistants designed to automate daily life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Among them are Medway Council chiefs who say they will use AI to "draft care plans" and automate invoice processing.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Retailers Amazon.com and Walmart have each invested heavily to automate and speed up more of their fulfillment processes to get online orders to customers as fast as possible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Earnings growth was concentrated at Siemens' Smart Infrastructure business, which supplies electrical equipment for data centres and other industrial customers, as well as the Digital Industries division, which focuses on software to automate processes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Or they are reduced to a stereotyped repertory that is easy to mechanize, to automate, and finally, to do away with.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin
Software that automates price-setting—often driven by AI—can quickly turn that data into tailored pricing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Agentic AI trading automates the active, complex work, multistep trades, strategy switching, custom position sizing. That’s not automating discipline; that’s automating action. Not the same thing.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Like competitor Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys makes software that automates the very complex process of designing chips, and it also makes hardware that tests the designs before they get shipped to the manufacturer.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
"Our eX-GL approach effectively automates the interpretation of complex magnetization reversal process and enables identification of hidden mechanisms, difficult to discern using conventional methods," says Prof. Kotsugi.
From Science Daily ● May 18, 2026
You get on these by sending a message to a specific e- mail address, which is often that of a computer that automates the process.
From Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet by Electronic Frontier Foundation
The company, whose automated license readers document plate data as vehicles drive past, says it has partnerships with 5,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
But campaigners for the elderly say older people are already struggling to interact with automated chatbots where they have been introduced.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
But many of Reddit’s de facto rulers—the unpaid, mostly-anonymous moderators who police each subreddit and wield automated management tools—are determined to keep any other whiff of marketing out of the organic feeds they lovingly cultivate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Song remains adamantly offline, relying on the "Four Pillars of Destiny" astrology in braille and on her four decades of experience in careful listening -- a skill her automated competition cannot match.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Unlike early Soviet space capsules, which were automated, American spacecraft required experienced pilots at the controls in case of malfunctions.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Investors also fear that generative AI could disrupt the country's $315-billion IT services industry by automating tasks long outsourced to India, such as customer service and app maintenance.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
That means automating picking, handling and eventually packing goods.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
To remove the emotional component, experts recommend automating your stock sales.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
The companies also are betting that “AI agents” will be able to proactively tackle more in the future, automating repetitive tasks in customer service, online shopping and other industries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Instantly I begin counting a beat in my head, automating my actions.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
