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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

codeword en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈkoʊdˌwɝd/ (General-American)

Etymology

From code + word.

Meanings

  1. A string representing an encoded piece of text.
    • Bob cannot get any information out of the codeword since he doesn't know what transmission bases Alice used.
  2. A word or phrase (or by extension a concept) used to make a (concealed) reference to another word or concept.
    • El Niño has hit the headlines as a codeword for bad weather, especially in the Pacific and California. But there is a little more to it than that. 2007, Rough Guides, The Rough Guide to the Energy Crisis, UK: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 194:
    • While all the cats are frolicking and singing, the aging Grizabella cat, noted once for her glamour, keeps wandering onstage and singing bits of "Memory." The other cats shun her as a pariah, an outcast. Dressed in rags, looking pathetic, it's clear that her only sin was once being "glamorous," which I think is a code word for sexual. 1984 February 4, Michael Bronski, “Cats: Straight and Boring”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 17:
    • The Catholic Church has had problems in the past with fluid notions of gender, most particularly at the United Nations where some groups have used gender as a codeword for reproductive health rights which are deemed to include abortion. 2013, Paul Vallely, Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 379:
    • Even the most virtuous concepts were scrutinised by governments eager to interpret them as codewords for something unwelcome. 1993, The Economist:
  3. (qualifier:crosswording) A type of crossword puzzle where the letters of the alphabet are represented by numbers and the solver must identify them by their position and frequency.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
codewords Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

pseudocodeword

Relateds

cryptarithm · alphametic

Synonyms

dogwhistle

Translations (6)

fi krypto (type of crossword) · es palabra de/en clave (cryptography: string of encrypted text) · nl codewoord (cryptography: string of encrypted text) · nl cijfercode (type of crossword) · fi salakirjoitus (cryptography: string of encrypted text) · fi koodi (cryptography: string of encrypted text)