How to Use actuator in a Sentence

actuator

noun
  • Next, the actuator swings out the large portion of the arm with the charger tip.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 2 July 2021
  • And noise is a key indication of the health of an actuator or a gear chain.
    — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 18 Feb. 2021
  • There's a new clutch, which only uses three plates instead of five, and a new shift actuator.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 1 July 2020
  • That could change if the team is able to miniaturize the actuators further.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 20 Nov. 2019
  • The actuator, which is used on cars, was recovered at the scene, Muñiz said.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022
  • This relies on an actuator to transfer this electric power and move the fin.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2023
  • This is the only actuator on the entire grip with a silent, non-clicky engagement.
    — Matthew Hirsch, Ars Technica, 4 June 2017
  • Without two to four motors or actuators in every door.
    — Arkansas Online, 23 Mar. 2026
  • There are racks of arms and shelves of legs, metal gears hanging from hooks, and trays of actuators ready to be assembled.
    — James Vincent, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
  • There are racks of arms and shelves of legs, metal gears hanging from hooks, and trays of actuators ready to be assembled.
    — James Vincent, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Each new actuator makes a robot more complex and harder to control.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Each fiber tip can be repositioned in a matter of seconds by a tiny robotic actuator.
    — Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, 11 Sep. 2019
  • The job of these actuators will be determine the best way to distribute the battery weight in the car.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 23 Feb. 2026
  • But Hughes instead devised an actuator that would pull the plate away.
    — David Howard, Popular Mechanics, 30 Aug. 2020
  • So the robot would just be an end effector, just a series of sensors and actuators.
    — Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 26 Mar. 2017
  • And the simplest way to do that was simply to double the number of wings, with each actuator now flapping two wings.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 26 June 2019
  • Until the engine builds oil pressure, the actuator will cause a rattle.
    — John Paul, The Providence Journal, 20 Feb. 2026
  • This is a very complicated print with all the actuators and overhangs.
    — Michael Lydick, PC Magazine, 10 June 2026
  • Should any of the braking actuators fail, the backup systems can prevent loss of control and bring the truck to a safe stop.
    — Richard Bishop, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
  • At the other end is an actuator arm that's connected to a harmonic drive.
    — Eric Bangeman, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2018
  • Due to its size, the actuator can allow robots to maneuver through tight spaces.
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2025
  • The object Petit had was not a handgun and was a 6-inch black metallic latch actuator.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022
  • The actuators move twice as fast and deliver more torque, allowing the robot to match human pick-and-place speeds.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2025
  • The problem, later discovered, was an actuator that had been serviced with oil that was too viscous.
    — Shem Malmquist, Wired, 24 Apr. 2021
  • One source also lists up to 40 structural actuators/DoF in the full body.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The tests showed that their actuator could move with a similar precision to human fingers.
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2025
  • The system has a robotic arm to move the throttle and actuators to control the rudder and control column.
    — Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, 16 May 2017
  • In the 68-mm-long new robo-manta, Yin and his team did away with the bistable design along with the bottom actuator.
    — Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The black metal actuator held by Jermaine Petit at the time of the shooting.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022
  • The actuator only makes contact with the side of the fingertip, leaving the sensitive palm side free to touch things.
    — Joseph Castro, Discover Magazine, 8 Aug. 2011

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'actuator.' 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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