What does "slushbox" mean?

Synonym of automatic transmission.

Slushbox

Q: What is a synonym for "slushbox"?

Common synonyms include: automatic gearbox, automatic transmission, continuously variable transmission, dct, gearbox, mct.

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
Synonym of automatic transmission. slang
"The slushbox did nothing to improve an already sluggish response."

Synonyms

All synonyms

automatic gearbox automatic transmission continuously variable transmission dct gearbox mct

Example

More examples

"The slushbox did nothing to improve an already sluggish response."

Etymology

From slush + box, in reference to the fluid-coupling action of the torque converter. A popular notion portrays this action as "slushing around" that involves greater power losses than with manual transmissions, although the notion is a comic exaggeration.

Related phrases

automatic transmission

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.