self-acting

[ self-ak-ting ]

adjective
  1. acting by itself; automatic.

Origin of self-acting

1
First recorded in 1670–80

Other words from self-acting

  • self-action, noun

Words Nearby self-acting

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use self-acting in a sentence

  • This self-acting cable key was brought out in 1876, and tried on the lines of the Eastern Telegraph Company.

  • There must also be change wheels, studs and quadrant plates, self-acting feed for surfacing and cross slide, and clamping nuts.

  • Behind were six fire-flies, well supplied with self-acting lamps, which they kept hidden somewhere under their wings.

    Japanese Fairy World | William Elliot Griffis
  • His cottage was quite a curiosity-shop of models of engines, self-acting planes, and perpetual-motion machines.

    Lives of the Engineers | Samuel Smiles
  • This was one of the first self-acting inclines laid down in the district.

    Lives of the Engineers | Samuel Smiles

British Dictionary definitions for self-acting

self-acting

adjective
  1. not requiring an external influence or control to function; automatic

Derived forms of self-acting

  • self-action, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012