Word.ws English Dictionary

semi-automatic

semi-automatic adjective: partially automatic.

Adjective

semi-automatic (not comparable)

  1. Partially automatic.
  2. Of a firearm that automatically ejects a shell and loads the next one, but requires the trigger to be squeezed for each shot; autoloading.
    • The pro-gun majority in the House of Representatives moved Wednesday to compel the nation's capital to broaden the rights of its residents to buy and own firearms, including semi-automatic weapons.2008 September 17, “Bill in House forces capital to relax gun restrictions”, in The New York Times

Noun

semi-automatic (plural semi-automatics)

  1. A semi-automatic firearm, especially such a pistol.
    • The Los Angeles ordinance covers semi-automatics with a detachable magazine of 20 rounds or more. As examples, it cited such weapons as the AR 15 assault rifles, Uzi assault rifles and carbines, Ingram Mac-10 and Mac-11 assault carbines, AK-47 assault rifles, Thompson carbines and all Avtomat...1989 February 8, Robert Reinhold, “LOS ANGELES BANS RAPID-FIRING GUNS”, in The New York Times
  2. A semi-automatic transmission.

Forms of semi-automatic

Adjective
alternative formsemiautomatic
alternative formsemi-auto
alternative formsemiauto
Noun
pluralsemi-automatics

Origin of semi-automatic

From semi- + automatic.

Words formed from semi-automatic

Phrases with semi-automatic

Questions about semi-automatic

What does semi-automatic mean?
Semi-automatic means partially automatic.
What part of speech is semi-automatic?
Semi-automatic can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near semi-automatic in the dictionary

  1. semi-arid
  2. semi-attached
  3. semi-auto
  4. semi-autobiographical
  5. semi-automated
  6. semi-automatic
  7. semi-automatic transmission
  8. semi-automatic transmissions
  9. semi-automatically
  10. semi-automatics
  11. semi-autonomous

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: semi-automatic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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