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 carriage traverse is self-acting and has three changes of feed, by means of the feed cones shown.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
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
Slide rests for self-acting or engine lathes are divided into seven kinds, termed respectively as follows: simple, or single, elevating, weighted, gibbed, compound, duplex, and duplex compound.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
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.