According to the plans, anyone over the age of 18 who was caught with a knife twice would automatically receive a six-month prison sentence. This is done without thinking about it or wanting to do it actively, often out of habit The Company`s Series C Preferred Shares are subject to automatic conversion to common shares. It was just an automatic reaction that was done in self-defense. n. 1) the transfer of ownership of immovable property through the automatic application of the law. (2) n. the transfer of rights, powers or office (public or private) from one person or government to another. An automatic machine or process is a machine that operates independently of human control, a way of doing things that is programmed to happen at certain times. by default and without the possibility of being altered by human intervention.