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
The bot is equipped to find a match, listing a bevy of hotels that offer strawberries and cream. Matt Rybaltowski, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025 Science Advances This new hand could unlock more precise, natural-feeling prostheses for amputees – and also enable greater dexterity for humanoid robots tasked with handling delicate items around your home, and on the assembly line to build more bots. New Atlas, 7 Mar. 2025 The bots influenced real accounts with content shared by fake profiles reaching 5.33 million views, Cyabra said. Betty Lin-Fisher, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2025 Not that this is necessarily the reason but an AI bot making Oscar predictions is forecasting a Will Smith/Chris Rock-style altercation between Brody and Chalamet. Pete Hammond, Deadline, 28 Feb. 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 24 Mar. 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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