self-regulating

American  

[self-reg-yuh-ley-ting, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈrɛg yəˌleɪ tɪŋ, ˈsɛlf- /

adjective

1. adjusting, ruling, or governing itself without outside interference; operating or functioning without externally imposed controls or regulations.

   a self-regulating economy; the self-regulating market.

2. functioning automatically.

   a self-regulating machine.

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self-regulating British  

adjective

1. (of a business, society, etc) enforcing or upholding its own rules and laws without external agency of intervention

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Etymology

Origin of self-regulating

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

This creates a self-regulating way to remove excess droplets and helps prevent water buildup that could interfere with performance.

From Science Daily

In the 1970s, when people became concerned that gene-splicing techniques could lead to the production of super viruses, Baltimore organized a conference at Asilomar near Monterey to design a self-regulating system to monitor those experiments.

From Los Angeles Times

In the three years since the Taliban takeover, it's become clear that even if edicts aren’t strictly imposed, people start self-regulating out of fear.

From BBC

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

"We recycle the fuel through our reactor multiple times, dealing with the waste, and the new reactors cannot melt-down, they are self-cooling and self-regulating."

From BBC

Related Words

• automated
• electric
• electronic
• mechanical