Hypertext Webster Gateway: "automatic"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Automatic \Au`to*mat"ic\, Automatical \Au`to*mat"ic*al\, a. [Cf.
F. automatique. See {Automaton}.]
1. Having an inherent power of action or motion.
Nothing can be said to be automatic. --Sir H. Davy.
2. Pertaining to, or produced by, an automaton; of the nature
of an automaton; self-acting or self-regulating under
fixed conditions; -- esp. applied to machinery or devices
in which certain things formerly or usually done by hand
are done by the machine or device itself; as, the
automatic feed of a lathe; automatic gas lighting; an
automatic engine or switch; an automatic mouse.
3. Not voluntary; not depending on the will; mechanical; as,
automatic movements or functions.
Unconscious or automatic reasoning. --H. Spenser.
{Automatic arts}, such economic arts or manufacture as are
carried on by self-acting machinery. --Ure.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
automatic
adj 1: operating with minimal human intervention; independent of
external control; "automatic transmission"; "a budget
deficit that caused automatic spending cuts" [ant: {manual}]
2: like the unthinking functioning of a machine; "an automatic
`thank you'"; "machinelike efficiency" [syn: {automatonlike},
{machinelike}, {robotlike}]
3: (physiology) without volition or conscious control; "the
automatic shrinking of the pupils of the eye in strong
light"; "a reflex knee jerk"; "sneezing is reflexive"
[syn: {reflex(a)}, {reflexive}]
n 1: light machine gun [syn: {automatic rifle}, {machine rifle}]
2: a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone
or the trigger is released [syn: {automatic pistol}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.