bar code

British  

noun

1. Also called: Universal Product Code.   UPC.  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 reordering

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bar code Cultural  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

The Montreal resident uses an app called Nuj that has him scan the bar code on a shampoo bottle in his bathroom.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

No more scrolling through your phone to find that bar code, or scrambling through your glove compartment to find that parking pass.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2025

The machines scan the bar code on the back of the membership card, showing the membership record, including photo and status.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 18, 2024

The 30-ish Londoner at the center of McCarthy’s sparse debut is almost heroically bland; if a bar code were a person, it would be this man.

From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2024

As James and Maddie tugged the book back and forth in front of Emily, the bar code waved like a black-and-white flag until it finally got her attention.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman