bot

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Computing

n. a character in a video game that is controlled by the computer instead of a person.

n. a computer-controlled non-player character (NPC) in a multiplayer video game that simulates the actions of a human opponent or teammate.

“I practiced my shooting skills against bots before joining a real match online.”

“The developers improved the enemy bots to make them behave more like strategic human players in the higher difficulty settings.”

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Informal

n. a short way of saying 'robot'.

n. a colloquial clipping of 'robot', referring to a physical mechanical entity.

“The students built a small bot that could navigate through a maze.”

“The laboratory is testing a swarm of miniature bots designed for search and rescue operations in unstable environments.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Computing Informal

v. to use a computer program to do work or play a game for you automatically.

v. to employ automated scripts or software agents to perform actions, often in a way that violates a platform's terms of service.

“He was banned from the game because he was caught botting to get more gold.”

“The account was flagged after the system detected it was botting thousands of likes on promotional posts within a few minutes.”