semiautomatic

(-ôt′ə matik)

adjective

  1. partly automatic and partly hand-controlled: said of machinery
  2. Firearms using the force of the explosion of a shell to eject and reload cartridges, as in an automatic, but requiring a trigger pull for each round fired

noun

a semiautomatic firearm

Related Forms:

See semiautomatic in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective
  1. Partially automatic.
  2. Ejecting a shell and loading the next round of ammunition automatically, but requiring a squeeze of the trigger for each shot. Used of a firearm.
noun
A semiautomatic firearm. Also called self-loader.

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