robot

1. historicaluncountableA system of serfdom used in Central Europe, under which a tenant's rent was paid in forced labour.First known use 19th c.

   “I say again, down with the robot!—he is a dog who yields it!”

   1849, Littell's Living Age, volume 23, page 309

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   Although the robot varied from region to region, it was rarely less than burdensome.

   2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 159

plural robots

1. literatureAn intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.First known use 20th c.

   The robots in Dick's novel, loosely adapted by Ridley Scott into the film Blade Runner, were so similar to humans that when they went rogue, trained bounty hunters were called in to perform psychological tests to see whether suspected androids lacked human empathy.

   2010 January 26, Tom Chivers, Iain McDiarmid, The Telegraph

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   Young Rossum invented a worker with a minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work—everything that makes man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul.

   c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act I, page 17

2. A machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks by physically moving, especially one which can be programmed.First known use 20th c.

   We have a robot in the house that does the vacuuming.

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   It's painfully slow and complex work which has never been attempted before in these conditions: the small box-shaped robots, equipped with two claws, are operating in almost freezing water 5,000ft below the surface, in pitch black and strong currents.

   2010 May 16, Tim Webb, “BP fights to stop the Gulf of Mexico spill – and salvage its reputation”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2021

   Compared to humanoids, industrial robots typically feature less advanced technology and perform less sophisticated tasks. They’re widely used in industrial settings for manufacturing or transportation. […] About 56% of the humanoid robot supply chain companies are based in China, according to a Morgan Stanley research report last month.

   2025 March 25, John Liu, “Elon Musk thinks robots are a $10 trillion business. He’s got some competition from China”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2025

3. computingA bot, software designed to perform a task.

   Clifton Sellers attended a Zoom meeting last month where robots outnumbered humans.

   2025 July 2, Lisa Bonos, Danielle Abril, “No one likes meetings. They’re sending their AI note takers instead.”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2025

4. figurativelyA person who does not seem to have any emotions or individuality.First known use 20th c.

   Yet surely he was a humorless robot of a man, spewing forth lonely and bitter critiques of all those lesser mortals with whom he could not identify.

   2006, Murray N. Rothbard, Making Economic Sense, page xiv

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   Straight society tries to change us by several means. Most of the time, it is mental torture, though physical abuse is not uncommon. We are programmed to be straight starting from the day we are born, and every action, word, and feeling must conform to the straight image. If we DO decide to be free rather than to be robots, here are some of the consequences.

   1973 December 22, Satya, “It Is Not We Who Must Change”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 27, page 3

5. South AfricaA traffic light (from earlier robot policeman).First known use 20th c.
6. geographyA theodolite which follows the movements of a prism and can be used by a one-man crew.
7. preceded by definite articledanceA style of dance popular in disco in which the dancer imitates the stiff movements of a stereotypical android robot.

plural robots

1. Internet4chan slangA habitual poster on the /r9k/ board on 4chan; a member of the /r9k/ community.

   One anonymous message addressed to "fellow robots" hoped readers would have "an enjoyable Elliot Rodger day"—a reference to the shooter who killed six near a Santa Barbara university last year.

   2015 October 1, David Kravets, “Ominous messages left on 4chan day before Oregon college killings [Updated]”, in Ars Technica, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2022

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   Posters on the board are locked in an ongoing debate about who can be one of them— a "robot." Can white guys be robots, despite their privilege? Can black guys? Women love them! It goes on and on. Only one rule really seems to be agreed upon: "If you have no friends and no gf you are a robot."

   2015 October 3, Jay Hathaway, “How 4chan Trolled Two of Its Friends by Framing Them for the Oregon Mass Shooting”, in Gawker, archived from the original on 20 Nov 2022

   It continued: "On October 5, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. CT, a fellow robot will take up arms against a university near Philadelphia. His cries will be heard, his victims will cower in fear, and the strength of the Union will decay a little more."

   2015 October 5, Justin Wm. Moyer, anonymous quotee, “Philadelphia colleges on alert after 4chan post threatens violence Monday”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Jun 2016

   As /r9k/ robots posted and reposted Pepes to playfully mock their status as grotesque outsiders whose very visage was disturbing to "normies," they ushered in a renaissance of frogs that soon appealed to all the netizens who every year had a little more in common with withdrawn, internet-soaked hikikomori.

   2019, Dale Beran, It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office, New York, N.Y.: All Points Books, →ISBN