Definition

1. Noun:
   • A cafeteria where food is served from machines: An establishment where customers select and obtain food and drinks from coin-operated vending machines, often without direct service from staff.
   • A vending machine from which you can get food: A specific machine that dispenses food items, such as sandwiches, pies, or drinks, when coins are inserted.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Establishment):
  • For a quick lunch, he often went to the automat on 42nd Street.
  • Automats were popular in American cities during the mid-20th century.
• Noun (Machine):
  • She bought a slice of pie from the automat.
  • The coffee automat was out of order.

Advanced Usage

• Historical/Cultural Context: The term "automat" often evokes a specific historical period (early to mid-1900s) and a fast, efficient, and somewhat impersonal dining experience, famously operated by companies like Horn & Hardart.
  • The documentary explored the rise and fall of the American automat.

Variants and Related Words

• Automated (adj): Operated by machines or computers with minimal human intervention.
  • The factory uses an automated assembly line.
• Automatic (adj): (Of a device) operating with minimal human control; self-regulating.
  • The doors have an automatic sensor.

Synonyms

• Noun (Establishment): Vending cafeteria, self-service restaurant.
• Noun (Machine): Vending machine, dispenser.

Related Phrases

• No common phrasal verbs or idioms are directly formed with the isolated word "automat".

Noun

1. a cafeteria where food is served from machines
2. a vending machine from which you can get food