bot

1 of 3

noun (1)

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
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 At one point in building the technology, the cofounders created a test in which their bot messaged with another AI bot that simulated a customer. Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2024 That in turn will require deeper lore from which the AI bots need to draw from. Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 22 Mar. 2024 The core robot costs $5,500, with modules like the lawn mower adding $1,500 to the price, so this is still an expensive bot. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 19 Mar. 2024 Sounds like a friendly name for an AI bot that many think will end their careers. Susan Howson, Quartz, 18 Mar. 2024 The purpose of these bots is to make their messages seem more authentic and influential. Elijah Clark, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 Over the past year, Musk has complained about OpenAI and other AI companies scraping the data of his social media company X, formerly Twitter, to help train their bots. Julian Mark, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024 Human verification involves confirming that a real person, not an automated bot, operates a social media account. Guy Tytunovich, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Dictionary Entries Near bot

Cite this Entry

“Bot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bot. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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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