Dictionary

ones and zeroes en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwʌnz n̩ ˈzɪɹ(ˌ)oʊz/ (General-American)
• /-ˈzi(ˌ)ɹoʊz/ (General-American)
• /ˈwʌnz n̩ ˈzɪəɹəʊz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

From the fact that the numerals 1 (one) and 0 (zero) are used to indicate binary numbers.

Meanings

1. (informal, plural, plural-only) Binary code; on and off bits.
   • The so-called higher level programming languages, like the various dialects of BASIC and PASCAL familiar to students in the 1980s, greatly simplified the business of programming, since it is no longer necessary—at least for certain purposes—to do what is now called "machine language programming," or what in earlier days was programming, i.e., employing the ones and zeroes now frequently viewed as rather tedious and theoretical [...] 1990, G. E. Scott, “Malleable Persons”, in Moral Personhood: An Essay in the Philosophy of Moral Psychology (SUNY Series in Ethical Theory), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 40:
   • Neo has been hacking since he was in elementary school. He is more at ease with ones and zeros than his own language. 2012, Wayne M. Smith, “The Wraith of Frank—Cyber War Style”, in The Sand Castle, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, pages 99–100:
   • You once said that the "ones and zeros" in the world's computers were demons that could trick the human race into losing all its history. 2007, Henning Mankell, chapter 8, in Laurie Thompson, transl., Kennedy’s Brain: Translated from the Swedish, New York, N.Y.: The New Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Christ’s Cul-de-sac), page 83:
   • Hiro Protagonist [in Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson] must win, one might say, on both Surf and Turf against the wonderfully evil Evangelist Minister R. Bob Riff and his allies, both in the world of violence, swordplay, and aircraft carriers and in the world of ones and zeros. 1996, R[obert] James Woolsey [Jr.], “Resilience and Vulnerability in the Digital Age”, in Stuart J. D. Schwartzstein, editor, The Information Revolution and National Security: Dimensions and Directions (Significant Issues Series; vol. XVIII, no. 3), Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 79:
   • If the movie [Ralph Breaks the Internet] never falls into a feedback loop, credit should probably go to [John C.] Reilly and especially [Sarah] Silverman, who bring human vulnerability to little bits of ultra-branded ones and zeroes. 2018 November 14, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 21 Nov 2019:
   • Now one must also: [...] be able to discern or possess a device that is able to discern the ones and zeroes on the storage medium, [...] 1998, Doug Carlston, “Storing Knowledge”, in Margaret MacLean, Ben H. Davis, editors, Time & Bits: Managing Digital Continuity, Los Angeles, Calif.: Getty Conservation Institute, →ISBN, page 24:
   • The incoming signals were broken down into digital code—ones and zeroes—by a relatively simple computer and downlinked to Fort Huachuca, where another computer of vastly greater power examined the bits of raw information and tried to make sense of them. 1989 August 17, Tom Clancy, Clear and Present Danger, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN; Berkley premium tie-in edition, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, November 2018, →ISBN, page 360:
   • But suppose there is a special and universal and innate language for thinking. Suppose, in particular, that just as computers have a language of ones and zeroes that underlies all of their programs and applications, there is an equally fundamental language shared by all humans: a language of thought (lot) [...]. 2001, Andrew Brook, Robert J. Stainton, “Knowledge of Language”, in Knowledge and Mind: A Philosophical Introduction (A Bradford Book), 1st paperback edition, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, →ISBN, pages 54–55:
   • If you are a developer or an architect, you are one for a good reason: Your magic and craft is turning ones and zeros into a solution that makes life and work better. 2008, Steven C. Seow, “Preface”, in Karen Gettman, editor, Designing and Engineering Time: The Psychology of Time Perception in Software, Upper Saddle River, N.J.; Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page xvii:

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