Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Self-contained \Self`-con*tained"\, a.
   1. Having self-control; reserved; uncommunicative; wholly
      engrossed in one's self.

   2. (Mach.) Having all the essential working parts connected
      by a bedplate or framework, or contained in a case, etc.,
      so that mutual relations of the parts do not depend upon
      fastening outside of the machine itself.

   {Self-contained steam engine}.
      (a) A steam engine having both bearings for the crank
          shaft attached to the frame of the engine.
      (b) A steam engine and boiler combined and fastened
          together; a portable steam engine.

Source : WordNet®

self-contained
     adj 1: constituting a complete and independent unit in and of
            itself; "the university is like a self-contained city
            with shops and all amenities"
     2: in full control of your faculties; "the witness remained
        collected throughout the cross-examination"; "perfectly
        poised and sure of himself"; "more self-contained and more
        dependable than many of the early frontiersmen"; "strong
        and self-possessed in the face of trouble" [syn: {collected},
         {equanimous}, {poised}, {self-collected}, {self-possessed}]