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open loop

American

noun

Engineering.

a control system in which an input alters the output, but the output has no feedback loop and therefore no effect on the input.

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.

The BBC understands that the majority of data centres in Scotland currently use "open loop" systems, which need a constant supply of mains water.

From BBC • Oct. 16, 2025

In the most popular systems, called open loop scrubbers, seawater is discharged to the ocean after little or no treatment.

From Science Magazine • May 13, 2021

Many approaches, he says, are open loop, meaning that they don’t track the effect of the modulation using an EEG.

From Nature • Feb. 27, 2018

So-called "open loop" cards carry credit card company logos and are re-loadable.

From Reuters • Aug. 10, 2016

The open loop of the final w is a still bolder deviation into A. W. 's own hand.

From Foul Play by Reade, Charles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023