self-acting
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-acting
First recorded in 1670–80
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.
Its new rule said bump stocks were illegal machine guns because they function as “a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that allows the firing of multiple rounds through a single function of the trigger.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
It said the bump stock device functions as “a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that allows the firing of multiple rounds through a single pull of the trigger.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
The engine is self-acting, and can be driven either by hand or by a steam-engine or other motive power.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various
Children and young persons may not be allowed to work between the fixed and traversing parts of a self-acting machine while the machine is in motion.
From Boy Labour and Apprenticeship by Bray, Reginald Arthur
He invented a self-acting machine, worked by a stream of water-drops, for accumulating electric charges, on the principle of the revolving doubler.
From Lord Kelvin An account of his scientific life and work by Gray, Andrew
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.
