decode
Americanverb (used with object)
-
decodes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decoded,
past participle, past
-
decoding
present participle
-
to translate (data or a message) from a code into the original language or form.
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to extract meaning from (spoken or written symbols).
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Television. to unscramble (an electronic signal) so as to provide a video picture for cable subscribers.
verb (used without object)
-
decodes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decoded,
past participle, past
-
decoding
present participle
verb
-
to convert (a message, text, etc) from code into ordinary language
-
computing to convert (coded characters) from one form to another, as from binary-coded decimals to decimal numbers Compare encode
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electronics to convert (a coded electrical signal) into normal analogue components
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to analyse and understand the construction of words and phrases, esp in a foreign language
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
decodesimple
-
decodessimple
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have decodedperfect
-
has decodedperfect
-
am decodingprogressive
-
are decodingprogressive
-
is decodingprogressive
-
have been decodingperfect progressive
-
has been decodingperfect progressive
Past
-
decodedsimple
-
had decodedperfect
-
was decodingprogressive
-
were decodingprogressive
-
had been decodingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decode
Explanation
When you translate a message from symbols or code into language, you decode it. British code breakers worked during World War II to decode Germany's coded messages. You might need to decode a secret message sent by a spy, but some computer scientists also decode the symbols in computer languages into grammatically correct language. Sometimes older people don't understand the lingo that younger people are using — they might ask a grandchild to help them decode lines in a song, for example. When sound engineers translate between analog and digital signals, they also decode.
Vocabulary lists containing decode
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Financial advisers may want to flaunt what they’ve learned after years of study, leaving clients trying to decode what feels like a new language.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
One of dozens of Polish codebreakers based there, Fred would work in a team listening to German signals and attempting to decode them.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
An agent working for a consumer can also flag junk fees, catch unauthorized charges, decode fine print and steer its owner away from predatory products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
They try to decode world events, looking for clues that the promised day of “awakening” has arrived.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
For someone who knew the system and had the right code books, it wasn’t too hard to work backward and decode the radio message.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Ms. Allen traces pen names, decodes handwriting and deciphers marginalia in Richmond’s correspondence and books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
“Karlyn Borysenko infiltrates their meetings, collects their materials, decodes their language, and exposes their ideas,” reads her description of her Substack.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
A stray orange cat; a séance in a hostel; a “nearsighted galoot” who decodes cryptic messages from Radio Pyongyang; flashlights that aren’t just flashlights — these bread crumbs guide us to the novel’s denouement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
Another, called PerturbSci-Kinetics, developed by graduate student Zihan Xu, decodes the genome-wide regulatory network that underlies RNA temporal dynamics by coupling scalable single-cell genomics with high-throughput genetic perturbations, or manipulations that can influence gene function.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023
As though the intelligence that decodes life’s hidden patterns—that connects reflections to images, glints to light, weaves to fabrics, needles to thread, walls to rooms, love to fear to anger to remorse—was suddenly lost.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Seales' team decoded surviving portions of a Herculaneum scroll known as PHerc.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
On the receiving end, the photonic qubits were decoded with an actively stabilized interferometer containing a phase shifter, allowing the system to operate for extended periods without manual adjustment.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026
The idea that flavor must be earned, decoded and unlocked.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2025
"I decoded Morse code and passed it to the next person," she said.
From BBC ● May 3, 2025
The RNA copy of a gene then moved from the nucleus to the cytosol, where its message was decoded to build a protein.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study found that understanding spoken language requires more than just decoding words.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
If decoding the Leipzig affair and its actual or possible ramifications seems to require an advanced degree in international semiotics, the reported facts are straightforward enough.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
The second hurdle to overcome is the “software challenge” of decoding the brain’s signals and converting them to computer code.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
Strengthening the integration between optical hardware and decoding algorithms will be essential for achieving faster and more reliable data retrieval under real-world conditions.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026
Peris hadn’t given an address, but Tally knew the trick for decoding the random-looking numbers at the bottom of a ping.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
