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
If the proper study of mankind be man,—which, of course, includes woman,—we are throwing a precious deal of time away on centrifugal pumps, sewing-machines, and self-acting razors.
From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. II by Lever, Charles James
The self-acting feed for the drill spindle is actuated by an eccentric on that spindle operating an arm, having a pawl engaging with the ratchet wheel on the lower end of the vertical feed spindle.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
The machine was on its finishing round; three seconds more, and the self-acting steam-valve has shut, the engine slows up to a stop, and its builder, with a quickened pulse, bends eagerly forward.
From Hope Benham A Story for Girls by Perry, Nora
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.
