bot

¹ American  

[bot] / bɒt /

noun

1. Digital Technology. a software program that can execute commands, reply to messages, or perform routine tasks, as online searches, either automatically or with minimal human intervention (often used in combination): a customer service chatbot to answer product questions.

   a social media bot retweeting certain posts;

   a customer service chatbot to answer product questions.

2. Informal. a robot.

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bot ² American  

[bot] / bɒt /

Or bott

noun

1. the larva of a botfly.

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bot ³ American  

[bot] / bɒt /

noun

Australian Slang.

1. a person who cadges; scrounger.

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bot. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. botanical.

2. botanist.

3. botany.

4. bottle.

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B.O.T. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Board of Trade.

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BOT ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. Board of Trade

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bot ² British  

/ bɒt /

noun

1. computing an autonomous computer program that performs time-consuming tasks, esp on the internet

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bot ³ British  

/ bɒt /

noun

1. the larva of a botfly, which typically develops inside the body of a horse, sheep, or man

2. any similar larva

3. informal a mild illness in humans

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bot ⁴ British  

/ bɒt /

verb

1. to scrounge or borrow

2. to scrounge (from); impose (on)

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noun

1. a scrounger

2. wanting to scrounge

   he's on the bot for a cigarette

bot. ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. botanical

2. botany

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bot Scientific  

/ bŏt /

1. A software program that imitates the behavior of a human, as by querying search engines or participating in chatroom discussions.

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Etymology

Origin of bot¹

First recorded in 1985–90; bot ¹ def. 2 first recorded in 1965–70; shortening of robot

Origin of bot²

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; akin to Dutch bot, Frisian dialect botten (plural); further origin unknown

Origin of bot³

First recorded in 1915–20; perhaps shortening of botfly

Explanation

A bot is a computer program that imitates human activity online. Bots are especially good at doing repetitive tasks very quickly — much faster than a person possibly could. The word bot is shorthand for robot, and it can describe independently moving machines that perform tasks, like the bot vacuum cleaner that terrifies your cat. Online bots have also been programmed to do boring jobs, like mining data from the web or answering basic customer service questions. Most bots are benign (or even useful), but some are malicious, programmed to spread disinformation, spam, and computer viruses.

Example Sentences

Such bot accounts use not only fake profile photos, but AI-generated scripts to chat with real users.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

This may all seem understandable—people want to know if what they’re reading was generated by a bot, and some argue they deserve to know.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

You can tag his company’s bot on Twitter/X, and it will tell you whether a post is A.I.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

If the bot is fond of the phrasing, it’s because humans are, too.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

I backtracked them to what we hacktivists call a zero-map, a changing series of relay servers that were part of the Con- ficker bot net.

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin