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barcode

[ bahr-kohd ]
/ ˈbɑrˌkoʊd /
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noun Also bar code .
a series of lines of varying width, printed, as on a container or product, that can be read by an optical scanner to determine charges for purchases, destinations for letters, etc.See also Universal Product Code.
verb (used with object), bar·cod·ed, bar·cod·ing.Also bar-code .
to put a barcode on.
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Origin of barcode

First recorded in 1960–65; bar1 (in the sense of “a band or strip”) + code
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use barcode in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for barcode

bar code

noun
commerce a machine-readable arrangement of numbers and parallel lines of different widths printed on a package, which can be electronically scanned at a checkout to register the price of the goods and to activate computer stock-checking and reorderingAlso called: Universal Product Code, UPC
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for barcode

bar code

A series of parallel lines that can be read by an optical scanner and decoded by a computer into usable information. The ten-line Universal Product Code (UPC) on the packaging of retail items is an example of this. The key to this code is the variation in line thickness and separation.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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