bot

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈbät 

1

: robot

The competition pits remote-controlled, spinning, stabbing robots against each other in three-minute jousts to the death. At the end of each fight, either one of the bots is a smoking, immobile wreck or the judges decide who scored the most blows.

—Brad Stone

2

a

: a computer program that performs automatic repetitive tasks : agent sense 5

Several shopping "bots" will track down prices for on-line merchandise from a variety of vendors.

—Sam Vincent Meddis

especially : one designed to perform a malicious action

These bot programs churn away all day and night, prodding at millions of random IP addresses looking for holes to crawl through.

—Jennifer Tanaka

b

: a computer that has been infected with a bot and can be used for malicious purposes as part of a network of infected computers

These proxies then sent instructions to worker bots in set patterns, including templates for spam creation.

—Jeff Hecht

3

: a computer program or character (as in a game) designed to mimic the actions of a person

bot

2 of 3

noun (2)

variants or less commonly bott

: the larva of a botfly

especially : one infesting the horse

bot

3 of 3

abbreviation

1

botanical; botanist; botany

2

bottle

3

bottom

4

bought

Examples of bot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But Williams has put some preventative measures in place ahead of the tour presale to ensure that those who share this experience are in the minority, rather than part of a larger collective of fans being exploited by scalpers and bots. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 10 Nov. 2025

That can take nefarious forms, such as hypothetically hard-coding cheaper ticket prices into the site that are hidden to human users but visible to AI bots, making the platform seem like a more affordable option to the computer model. —Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 10 Nov. 2025

Some 65% of the nonprofit’s most server-straining traffic now comes from bots, some of which scrape the site to feed into chatbots for training. —Harry Booth, Time, 9 Nov. 2025

In a separate case involving 26-year-old Joshua Enneking, relatives say the bot validated his suicidal thoughts and provided information on how to purchase and use a firearm only weeks before his death. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

by shortening

Noun (2)

Middle English; akin to Dutch leverbot liver fluke

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1969, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bot

1 of 2 noun

ˈbät 

: the larva of a botfly

bot

2 of 2 noun

1

: robot

2

: a computer program that performs automatic, repetitive, and sometimes harmful tasks

3

: a computer program or character that mimics human actions

Medical Definition

bot

1 of 2 noun

variants also bott

ˈbät 

: the larva of a botfly

especially : one infesting the horse

bot

2 of 2 abbreviation

1

botanical; botanist; botany

2

bottle