How to Use semiautomatic in a Sentence
semiautomatic
adjective-
Tucked inside the green bag next to the singer was a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which added to the charges against him.
—Dallas News, 19 Jan. 2023
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Many of the men carry M-1s, the semiautomatic carbines that were a staple in the war.
—Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 28 May 2021
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Four masked men armed with semiautomatic weapons leaped out of a blue van that had been pre-positioned on the left side of the road.
—Tom Sancton, Town & Country, 31 Mar. 2022
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The judge said there was enough evidence for Rocky to face the two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 21 Nov. 2023
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When the man refused to give up the dogs, screaming out for help and wrestling to keep the dogs, a man pulls a semiautomatic handgun and opens fire at him.
—Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2021
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The suspect then stepped out of the truck with a semiautomatic shotgun in hand and ran after Beesley.
—Katie Shepherd, Anchorage Daily News, 28 June 2021
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The gunman was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, one of the weapons that he was legally allowed to own.
—Melissa Eddy, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2023
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Thom then pulled out a 9mm Glock semiautomatic firearm as Ah Nee tried to open the front passenger’s door — but it was locked.
—Washington Post, 16 June 2021
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He is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
—Jonathan Abrams, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
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That includes a bill that would ban the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms.
—Alayna Alvarez, Axios, 25 Mar. 2025
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The dog walker tried to fight them off and was shot by one of the men wielding a semiautomatic handgun during the struggle.
—Stefani Dazio, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Feb. 2021
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Rocky is facing a pair of felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 29 Jan. 2025
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As the outdoor concert was about to end about 3:45 p.m., the suspect fired his semiautomatic weapon.
—Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2020
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The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was 19 at the time and used a semiautomatic rifle.
—News Service Of Florida, Sun Sentinel, 20 Feb. 2025
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The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was 19 at the time and used a semiautomatic rifle.
—Jim Saunders, Sun Sentinel, 5 Feb. 2025
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Varela told police that Vitela and Higgins were in the Charger and shot at the man with semiautomatic rifles, court records state.
—Perry Vandell, azcentral, 4 June 2019
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And just like the Texas shooter, he was armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
—Corky Siemaszko, NBC News, 27 May 2022
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Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 at the time, used a semiautomatic rifle to gun down the victims at his former school.
—Dara Kam, Orlando Sentinel, 17 Mar. 2025
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The House was set to vote on the bill — which would require a background check and a training course to buy certain semiautomatic weapons — in the afternoon.
—The Denver Post, Denver Post, 29 Mar. 2025
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This was in exchange for pleading guilty to one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
—Driadonna Roland, refinery29.com, 19 Feb. 2025
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In February, he was shot in the head with a semiautomatic pistol and buried in a desolate stretch of desert.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2021
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Many in the crowd carried semiautomatic weapons, leading some Democrats in the Legislature to call for a ban on guns in the Capitol.
—Kathleen Gray, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2020
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At the national level, the House passed a bill last week to raise the minimum age to buy semiautomatic rifles to 21.
—Paul Best, Fox News, 15 June 2022
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The bill would ban the sales of some semiautomatic firearms and ban the possession of magazines with more than 12 rounds and some firearm accessories.
—Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2020
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He is charged with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in that incident.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2023
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The school staff did not search the 15-year-old’s backpack, where a semiautomatic handgun was stashed at one point, officials say.
—Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2021
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In August 2022, Rocky pleaded not guilty to two charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 12 Sep. 2023
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The man had a semiautomatic handgun with him during the robbery, according to the records.
—Elliot Hughes, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2018
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The 9mm semiautomatic handgun, which belonged to the girl’s mother, was inside the girl’s bag and was loaded with four rounds, reports say.
—Cliff Pinckard, cleveland, 28 Sep. 2022
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After this exchange, Holder left the scene but returned a short time later, armed with a revolver and a semiautomatic handgun.
—Kelsey Lentz, People.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'semiautomatic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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