ˈrōˌbät, -_bət, usu -äd. or -əd.+V; sometimes -(ˌ)bō or -ˌbət or (+V) -ˌbəd. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Czech, from robota work, compulsory service; akin to Old Slavic rabota servitude, Old English earfothe hardship, labor, Old High German arabeit trouble, distress, Old Norse erfithi toil, distress, Gothic arbaiths labor, Latin orbus orphaned, bereft — more at orphan
1.
a. : a machine in the form of a human being that performs the mechanical functions of a human being but lacks emotions and sensitivity
electronically controlled robots with hands, eyebrows, and bodies that move — Time
a world of men and women — not of cast iron robots — Spectator
— compare automaton , golem
b. : an automatic apparatus or device that performs functions ordinarily ascribed to human beings or operates with what appears to be almost human intelligence ; especially : such an apparatus that is started by means of radiant energy or sound waves
a robot mechanism that steers a cultivator precisely along a row of crops — Newsweek
a robot taking pictures at intervals
c.
(1) : a mechanism that operates without human assistance ; especially : one that is guided by automatic controls
automatic percolator robot
robot airplane
robot factory
(2) southern Africa : traffic signal
(3) : robot bomb
2. : an efficient, insensitive, and often brutalized person
social robots, taking whatever is brought to us, always grateful — Gilbert Seldes
the average worker who has functioned from adolescence as a robot — Henry Miller