Definition of "servomechanism" []

• A feedback system that consists of a sensing element, amplifier, and servomotor, used in the automatic control of a mechanical device. (noun)
• A self-regulating feedback system or mechanism: "We do not need to know in detail how the minute chemical servomechanisms of the muscles operate in order to move our arms” ( Harper's). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In just a split second the robots were reduced to a sparking pile of crushed and mangled components, the occasional twitching servomechanism the only indication of any life."
• "C. Shaw developed a sensing device, controlled by a servomechanism, for a milling machine."
• "Next, a somehow tired humming sound, as of a very old servomechanism being called into use one final time, began to whine its way into their ears."