variants
or less commonly bar code
plural barcodes also bar codes
1
: a code consisting of a group of printed and variously patterned bars and spaces and sometimes numerals that is designed to be scanned and read into computer memory and that contains information (such as identification) about the object it labels
… one version of the barcode reader used in supermarkets employs a laser scanner.—
Science
ScienceI on the other hand boarded the traditional way. I handed my paper printout to the airport personnel, who scanned the barcode before letting me proceed.—Sanjeeb Patel
Sanjeeb Patel2
biology
: something (such as a DNA sequence) that uniquely identifies a species of organism
… they now plan to analyze each fish sample by decoding a certain tiny piece of DNA that can serve as a unique bar code for the species.—Christen Brownlee
Christen Brownlee
bar coding
noun
Examples of barcode in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Attendees will need to bring their email confirmation barcode and a valid photo identification card to pick up their badge.
—Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 July 2025
Simply by flashing a barcode on my smartphone, I was whisked through customs and onto a gangway, waved through the bowels of the ship, and guided to the generically grand Grand Lobby.
—Guy Trebay, Travel + Leisure, 15 July 2025
The barcode remained optically stable and readable for more than a year.
—New Atlas, 13 July 2025
In early June, the Burleson Police Department was alerted to a scam at a store involving gift cards with phony barcodes.
—Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 June 2025
Another key benefit of maintenance software is its ability to create unique barcodes that can be applied to parts and assets for easy access to information.
—Rohit Prakash, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
According to Collin Gregory, a department spokesperson, criminals had replaced legitimate barcodes with ones linked to third-party accounts.
—Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 June 2025
The machines then print a paper ballot with a human-readable summary of the voter's selections and a QR code, a type of barcode, that is read by a scanner to count the votes.
—CBS News, 26 Mar. 2025
At the checkout and after entering your Kroger loyalty ID or scanning a loyalty card, shoppers can scan a barcode on the flyer that downloads all the Weekly Digital Deals offered that week at once to the customer's loyalty card.
—Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 8 July 2025
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Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 July 2025
Simply by flashing a barcode on my smartphone, I was whisked through customs and onto a gangway, waved through the bowels of the ship, and guided to the generically grand Grand Lobby.
—Guy Trebay, Travel + Leisure, 15 July 2025
The barcode remained optically stable and readable for more than a year.
—New Atlas, 13 July 2025
In early June, the Burleson Police Department was alerted to a scam at a store involving gift cards with phony barcodes.
—Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 June 2025
Another key benefit of maintenance software is its ability to create unique barcodes that can be applied to parts and assets for easy access to information.
—Rohit Prakash, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
According to Collin Gregory, a department spokesperson, criminals had replaced legitimate barcodes with ones linked to third-party accounts.
—Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 June 2025
The machines then print a paper ballot with a human-readable summary of the voter's selections and a QR code, a type of barcode, that is read by a scanner to count the votes.
—CBS News, 26 Mar. 2025
At the checkout and after entering your Kroger loyalty ID or scanning a loyalty card, shoppers can scan a barcode on the flyer that downloads all the Weekly Digital Deals offered that week at once to the customer's loyalty card.
—Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 8 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barcode.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barcode. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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