automatic pilot

See synonyms for automatic pilot on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Aeronautics.Also called automatic, autopilot, gyropilot, robot. an airborne electronic control system that automatically maintains a preset heading and attitude.

Idioms about automatic pilot

  1. on automatic pilot, functioning in an unthinking or reflexive manner.

Origin of automatic pilot

1
First recorded in 1915–20

Words Nearby automatic pilot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use automatic pilot in a sentence

  • Tell them that true friendship does not thrive on an automatic pilot.

  • Sherman flattened out, and without paying any attention to direction, snapped in the automatic pilot and reached for his gun.

    The Onslaught from Rigel | Fletcher Pratt
  • Without orders, without clearance papers, without an automatic pilot check.

    The Long Voyage | Carl Richard Jacobi
  • By the exercise of his will he has set his course, and on that course he will stay as if guided by an automatic pilot.

    The Pursuit of God | A. W. Tozer
  • He punched down the keys, and sat back to wait for the automatic pilot to carry him out from Earth.

    Starman's Quest | Robert Silverberg
  • The pilot took over manual control from the automatic pilot.

    Space Platform | Murray Leinster

British Dictionary definitions for automatic pilot

automatic pilot

noun
  1. Also called: autopilot a device that automatically maintains an aircraft on a preset course

  2. on automatic pilot informal acting without conscious thought because of tiredness, shock, or familiarity with the task being performed

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