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
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
For example, creating a Plato chatbot that lets students have a text conversation with a bot posing as Plato is a cool gimmick. Nir Eisikovits, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2024 An army of bots have been deployed on X to praise Azerbaijan just ahead of the talks, The Washington Post reported. Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024 Fake bot accounts and deepfakes are on the rise, often proliferated by foreign adversaries, while platforms like X have loosened efforts to limit misleading content. Jenn Brice, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2024 After today, all those political ads and bits of campaign mail and texts from bots pretending to be politicians will all be over. Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 5 Nov. 2024 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

Dictionary Entries Near bot

Cite this Entry

“Bot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bot. Accessed 30 Nov. 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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