decipher
to make out the meaning of (poor or partially obliterated writing, etc.): to decipher a hastily scribbled note.
to discover the meaning of (anything obscure or difficult to trace or understand): to decipher hieroglyphics.
to interpret by the use of a key, as something written in cipher: to decipher a secret message.
Obsolete. to depict; portray.
Origin of decipher
1Other words for decipher
Other words from decipher
- de·ci·pher·a·ble, adjective
- de·ci·pher·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- de·ci·pher·er, noun
- de·ci·pher·ment, noun
- un·de·ci·pher·a·ble, adjective
- un·de·ci·pher·a·bly, adverb
- un·de·ci·phered, adjective
Words Nearby decipher
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use decipher in a sentence
Q’s posts contain clues, and adherents are told to decipher the messages and do independent research to uncover the secrets.
Evangelicals are looking for answers online. They’re finding QAnon instead. | Abby Ohlheiser | August 26, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewReading a scientific paper can sometimes feel like deciphering a wall of code.
Why scientific papers are growing increasingly inscrutable | Hannah Seo | August 25, 2020 | Popular-ScienceNow, scientists are figuring out how, thanks to the first-ever deciphering, or sequencing, of the tuatara’s genetic instruction book.
How tuatara live so long and can withstand cool weather | Jake Buehler | August 5, 2020 | Science NewsLike hand-drawn maps from early explorers sailing to the western hemisphere, these maps provide the brain’s geographical patterns from which we try to decipher functional connections.
These Scientists Just Completed a 3D ‘Google Earth’ for the Brain | Shelly Fan | August 5, 2020 | Singularity HubLink receivers and providers can easily decipher sponsored links from “untrustworthy” nofollow links.
What Google says about nofollow, sponsored, and UGC links in 2020: Does it affect your SEO rankings? | Joseph Dyson | July 24, 2020 | Search Engine Watch
It was beyond the capacity of any human cryptologist to decipher the signals.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero | Clive Irving | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI never owned a copy but I knew people who did, and we spent hours in dorm rooms trying to decipher what was on it.
For those few months it may have appeared quite simple to decipher the good from the bad.
An Ex-Radical's Open Letter to ISIS Fighters: Quit Now While You Can! | Maajid Nawaz | September 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe duchess sat at a replica radio to hear, learn about, and decipher morse code.
Kate Middleton’s Code-Breaking Granny: Duchess Uncovers Wartime Secrets | Tim Teeman | June 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter a brief exchange to decipher why Smith, Alencar, and Mousa wanted to go to Syria, the journalists told them to go home.
The Greek character will now become easy to decipher; and the evening papers may take King Otho both off the throne and on.
She longed to penetrate below the surface and decipher the strange palimpsest of human life.
The Daughters of Danaus | Mona CairdWe do not propose that he shall decipher the hieroglyphics of algebra and geometry.
Astronomy for Amateurs | Camille FlammarionThe printers were not compelled to decipher the peculiarities of anyone's handwriting; Stowe's copy was printed and punctuated.
Watch Yourself Go By | Al. G. FieldMr. Monk had been altogether unable to decipher the Duke's purpose in the question he had asked.
The Prime Minister | Anthony Trollope
British Dictionary definitions for decipher
/ (dɪˈsaɪfə) /
to determine the meaning of (something obscure or illegible)
to convert from code into plain text; decode
Derived forms of decipher
- decipherable, adjective
- decipherability, noun
- decipherer, noun
- decipherment, noun
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
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