bot

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈbät 

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

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

Though the robotic smart display is much further along than the mobile bot, it has been added and removed from the company’s product road map over the years, according to the people. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024

Since his takeover of the platform, the presence of spammy bots on the platform has been a near-constant source of controversy. —Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024

Microsoft has its own Azure AI Bot Service that businesses like Vodafone, PwC, and others use to build conversational AI bots. —Tom Warren, The Verge, 2 Apr. 2024

The bots continue to get better at data analysis, coding, image generation, and more tools that offer practical applications. —Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024

The bot then flies to the customer’s address, where the Wendy’s order is dropped near their front door. —Michael Kan, PCMAG, 22 Mar. 2024

Even smaller tools like r/audiophile’s tech support and purchase advice bot, Transducer Bot, could be broken without API access. —Paresh Dave, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024

Users are not guinea pigs Clearly, both bots needed more work. —Geoffrey A. Fowler, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2024

But the most important thing about these AI tax bots is that they’re designed to get better over time. —Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024

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