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
In this machine the work-holding table is provided with a hand feed, and the drilling or boring spindle with hand and self-acting feed, the latter being variable to suit different kinds of work.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
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
She apparently experienced entrancement to absolute unconsciousness, so that she became, for the time being, literally a tool—no more self-acting, and therefore no more responsible, than a pen, a pencil, or a speaking-trumpet.
From Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism by Putnam, Allen
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.
