variants:
or less commonly bott
Definition of bot
(Entry 1 of 3)
: the larva of a botfly especially : one infesting the horse
bot
abbreviationDefinition of bot (Entry 2 of 3)
1 botanical; botanist; botany
2 bottle
3 bottom
4 bought
bot
noun (2)Definition of bot (Entry 3 of 3)
1 : robot Bennett's referring to … a new police robot. It looks similar to the Albuquerque Bomb Squad robot next to it—both have cameras, an articulated arm, a mechanical gripper, and tank-like treads. But Benett's bot is different; it has brains. — Popular Science
2a : 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
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Test Your Vocabulary
Slippery Words Quiz—Changing with the Times
- What is an earlier meaning of nice?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Anagram puzzles meet word search.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Slippery Words Quiz—Changing with the Times
Do you know these earlier meanings of words?
Take the quizWords of Snow and Ice Quiz
A selection of words from the chillier parts of t...
Take the quizHow Strong Is Your Vocabulary?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
Take the quizSCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!
Play the game
Share bot
Time Traveler for bot
The first known use of bot was in the 15th century
See more words from the same century