bot

/bɑt/

/bɒt/

Other forms: bots

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.

Definitions of bot

1. noun

   a mechanism that can move automatically
   synonyms: automaton, golem, robot

   types:

   android, humanoid, mechanical man

   an automaton that resembles a human being

   type of:

   mechanism

   device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function
2. noun

   botfly larva; typically develops inside the body of a horse or sheep or human
   type of:

   larva

   the immature free-living form of most invertebrates and amphibians and fish which at hatching from the egg is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose
3. noun

   a software program that runs automated tasks online, such as large-scale messaging or data-fetching
4. noun

   an interactive software program that imitates human behavior, especially in the form of communication in chatrooms and social media platforms