autonomous underwater vehicle

noun

: an unmanned vehicle designed to operate underwater without guidance according to preprogrammed instructions

Inside, scientists have constructed torpedoes that can all but think for themselves. They are called AUVs, or autonomous underwater vehicles, and they disappear into the sea and carry out missions without remote control.

—Trevor Corson, The Secret Life Of Lobsters, 2004

—abbreviation AUV

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

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