SELF-CONTAINED

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does self-contained mean? 

• SELF-CONTAINED (adjective)
  The adjective SELF-CONTAINED has 2 senses:

1. constituting a complete and independent unit in and of itself

2. in full control of your faculties

  Familiarity information: SELF-CONTAINED used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SELF-CONTAINED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Constituting a complete and independent unit in and of itself

Context example:

the university is like a self-contained city with shops and all amenities

Similar:

complete (having every necessary or normal part or component or step)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In full control of your faculties

Synonyms:

collected; equanimous; poised; self-collected; self-contained; self-possessed

Context example:

strong and self-possessed in the face of trouble

Similar:

composed (serenely self-possessed and free from agitation especially in times of stress)

 Context examples 

A self-contained component (unit or item) that is used in combination with other components.

(Module, NCI Thesaurus)

Mr. Mortimer Tregennis was more self-contained than the clergyman, but the twitching of his thin hands and the brightness of his dark eyes showed that they shared a common emotion.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then, with an effort, he became the same cold, hard, self-contained man as ever.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Such a self-contained man I never saw.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A group of parts that fit together to form a self-contained unit.

(Assembly, NCI Thesaurus)

This essential energy production takes place inside mitochondria, the self-contained "powerplant" organelles inside cells.

(Excess Fat Disrupts Heart Cell's Energy System, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“If you were to search all England,” said he, “I don’t suppose you could find a household more self-contained or freer from outside influences.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From every gesture and expression I could see that he was a reserved, self-contained man, with a dash of pride in his nature, more likely to hide his wounds than to expose them.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In object-oriented programming, an object is a self-contained entity that consists of both data and procedures to manipulate the data.

(Computer Programming Object, NCI Thesaurus)

Von Bork was a strong, self-contained man, but it was easy to see that the news had shaken him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)