captcha
noun
capt·cha ˈkap-chə 
variants or CAPTCHA
: a test to prevent spamming software from accessing a website by requiring visitors to the site to solve a simple puzzle (typically by reading and transcribing a series of numbers or letters from a distorted image) in order to gain access
The point of the CAPTCHA is that reading those swirly letters is something that computers aren't very good at. If you can read them, you're probably not a piece of software run by a spammer.
Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Khedouri says the Privacy Access Token isn’t the end of the captcha—far from it. Wired, 13 Aug. 2022 The latest versions of Apple’s operating systems, as demonstrated at WWDC, will bypass captcha devices. Ewan Spence, Forbes, 24 June 2022 That's why web captcha command could be seen more online – it's being used as a bot blocker. CBS News, 30 Nov. 2021 However, the outlet noted that the site now displays a captcha, which is most likely an attempt to stop automated submissions. Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE.com, 3 Sep. 2021 People can receive Nano tokens simply by solving a captcha on a Web page, letting people with low-end computers take part. Chris Morris, Fortune, 13 May 2021 No longer will a captcha code be required after that step in the process broke down. Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2021 Somehow, the most jarring thing about the 2020 AMG GLC 63 S Performance Coupe isn’t the fact that Mercedes-Benz gave that captcha-sounding name to a four-door SUV. Alex Davies, Wired, 12 Feb. 2020 Use a captcha, a program that protects websites against bots. Melissa Simone, STAT, 21 Nov. 2019 See More
Wired, 13 Aug. 2022 The latest versions of Apple’s operating systems, as demonstrated at WWDC, will bypass captcha devices. Ewan Spence, Forbes, 24 June 2022 That's why web captcha command could be seen more online – it's being used as a bot blocker. CBS News, 30 Nov. 2021 However, the outlet noted that the site now displays a captcha, which is most likely an attempt to stop automated submissions. Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE.com, 3 Sep. 2021 People can receive Nano tokens simply by solving a captcha on a Web page, letting people with low-end computers take part. Chris Morris, Fortune, 13 May 2021 No longer will a captcha code be required after that step in the process broke down. Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2021 Somehow, the most jarring thing about the 2020 AMG GLC 63 S Performance Coupe isn’t the fact that Mercedes-Benz gave that captcha-sounding name to a four-door SUV. Alex Davies, Wired, 12 Feb. 2020 Use a captcha, a program that protects websites against bots. Melissa Simone, STAT, 21 Nov. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (with deliberate pun on capture entry 1)
First Known Use
2001, in the meaning defined above