bar code

noun

1. commerce a machine-readable arrangement of numbers and parallel lines of different widths printed on a package, which can be electronically scanned at a checkout to register the price of the goods and to activate computer stock-checking and reordering Also calledUniversal Product CodeUPC

bar code

1. A series of parallel lines that can be read by an optical scanner and decoded by a computer into usable information. The ten-line Universal Product Code (UPC) on the packaging of retail items is an example of this. The key to this code is the variation in line thickness and separation.

Example Sentences

In Shasta and Nevada counties, flecks of ink marring the bar codes printed on some ballots prevented voting machines made by Hart InterCivic from correctly reading those ballots.

From Los Angeles Times

Police say they were the dummy crates, which bore the same resemblance and bar codes as the ones that had been intercepted.

From BBC

Unflattering references to the technology liken the process to a supermarket checkout - where your face becomes a bar code.

From BBC

The fakes at the regulator’s warehouse include bar codes and packaging that appear similar in color, size and shape to legitimate pens.

From Seattle Times

Hard Rock had one billboard-type ad with a bar code ready to scan for gambler to make a deposit and start betting.

From Seattle Times