1. an automatic control system that keeps an aircraft, ship, or spacecraft on a set course without human intervention
2. a state of acting or functioning without conscious thought or effort
Usage: figurative

Examples

• The pilot engaged the autopilot during the long flight across the ocean.
• The ship’s autopilot maintained course while the crew rested.
• After years of driving the same route, she could do it on autopilot.
• He went through his morning routine on autopilot, barely awake.
• The spacecraft’s autopilot system guided it safely to the space station.
• When stressed, she tends to switch to autopilot and just go through the motions.
• The autopilot failed, forcing the pilot to take manual control of the aircraft.