semiautomatic
partly automatic.
(of a firearm) automatically ejecting the cartridge case of a fired shot and loading the next cartridge from the magazine but requiring a squeeze of the trigger to fire each individual shot.
a self-loading rifle or other firearm.
Origin of semiautomatic
1Other words from semiautomatic
- sem·i·au·to·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb
Words Nearby semiautomatic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use semiautomatic in a sentence
Now, still sitting on the floor, he braced for who would come for him first, fearing men with semiautomatic rifles.
As school shootings surge, a sixth-grader tucks his dad’s gun in his backpack | John Woodrow Cox, Steven Rich | June 24, 2021 | Washington PostInstead, they were allowed inside by state police and stood in the gallery above the Senate chamber, toting semiautomatic rifles, staring down as lawmakers went about their business.
Australian lawmakers responded with legislation that, among other provisions, banned certain types of firearms, such as automatic and semiautomatic rifles and shotguns.
Armed with an AK-47-style semiautomatic rifle, Hunter fired off 13 rounds into an abandoned Minneapolis police precinct where hundreds of protesters had gathered, prosecutors allege.
“I Felt Hate More Than Anything”: How an Active Duty Airman Tried to Start a Civil War | by Gisela Pérez de Acha, Kathryn Hurd and Ellie Lightfoot, Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program | April 13, 2021 | ProPublicaAuthorities said a minivan pulled up and two assailants jumped out with semiautomatic handguns.
Ballistics work at D.C.’s crime lab criticized by forensic experts | Keith L. Alexander | March 26, 2021 | Washington Post
On that December day in 2012, he used a Model XM15-E2s .233-caliber semiautomatic rifle with a 30-round magazine.
She also made clear in the petition that her husband owned a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun.
And I keep wondering what would have happened if his unquiet mother had hoarded books instead of semiautomatic weapons.
The Promise of Happiness After the Newtown Shooting | William Giraldi | January 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTRecently Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed a ban of semiautomatic and assault weapons along with high-capacity magazines.
On that day, he bought an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to add to his collection of weapons.
Aurora Cops Relive the Horror at James Holmes Hearing | Christine Pelisek | January 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTNo, sir; it was not the semiautomatic, it was a bolt action rifle, with a clip on it.
Warren Commission (1 of 26): Hearings Vol. I (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyA semiautomatic rifle with carefully timed shots searched the area where he had been.
Take the Reason Prisoner | John Joseph McGuire
British Dictionary definitions for semiautomatic
/ (ˌsɛmɪˌɔːtəˈmætɪk) /
partly automatic
(of a firearm) self-loading but firing only one shot at each pull of the trigger: Compare automatic (def. 5)
a semiautomatic firearm
Derived forms of semiautomatic
- semiautomatically, adverb
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
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