bot

1 of 3

noun (1)

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The idea is to integrate an intelligent AI ‘concierge’ into its app functionality to help guests plan their travel experiences end-to-end (i.e. guests will be able to ‘chat’ with the bot, search and book flights and holidays directly through the app). Jennifer Leigh Parker, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025 Each local government bot is trained on hundreds of pages of local regulations. semafor.com, 9 July 2025 In 2024, Anthropic suffered a data leak, accidentally sending customer information to a third party, and Reddit is currently suing Anthropic for using bots to access its site after Anthropic allegedly stopped its bots from doing so. PC Magazine, 7 July 2025 Worker bots Tech executives have touted AI’s ability to write code. Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for bot

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of bot was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bot. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.

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
: the larva of a botfly
especially : one infesting the horse

bot

2 of 2 abbreviation
1
botanical; botanist; botany
2
bottle

More from Merriam-Webster on bot

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