autopilot

noun

au·to·pi·lot ˈȯ-tō-ˌpī-lət

: a device for automatically steering ships, aircraft, and spacecraft

also : the automatic control provided by such a device

: automatic pilot sense 2

Examples of autopilot in a Sentence

an airplane equipped with an autopilot The plane was flying on autopilot.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

One notable recent hire was Zheng Gao, previously the leader of Tesla’s autopilot hardware design team, now director of hardware engineering for Zoox. —

Lora Kolodny,jennifer Elias, CNBC, 26 Dec. 2024 Suddenly, there’s no familiar commute to autopilot, no predictable class schedule, no obvious next step. —

Jj Rosen, The Tennessean, 22 Dec. 2024 With these two programs on fiscal autopilot, the entitlement state was born, and the elderly were its prime beneficiaries. —

Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024 One of New Zealand's navy ships struck a reef and sank after it was left on autopilot, an official inquiry has found. —

Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for autopilot