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• code name
  code name

  noun

  a name assigned to conceal the real identity of a person, as a spy, or to conceal the existence or purpose of a plan, military operation, etc.
• code-name
  code-name

  verb (used with object)

  to assign a code name to.

code name

¹ American  

[kohd neym] / ˈkoʊd ˌneɪm /

noun

1. a name assigned to conceal the real identity of a person, as a spy, or to conceal the existence or purpose of a plan, military operation, etc.

2. Also called code phrase.  a word or phrase assigned a meaning understood only by those who are secretly informed of it.

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code-name ² American  

[kohd-neym] / ˈkoʊdˌneɪm /

verb (used with object)

code-named, code-naming

1. to assign a code name to.

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Etymology

Origin of code name¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Origin of code-name²

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

In others, they appeared to refer to the woman Summers was attracted to by a code name: “peril.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

The latter is salient because the name Oracle comes from the code name of a CIA-funded project that Ellison worked on.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

Operation Interflex is the code name given to the UK Armed Forces' training programme, which has been created to develop and prepare Ukrainian recruits to fight their country's Russian invaders.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2024

The code name Sotheby’s used for a transaction involving another painting Rybolovlev bought from Bouvier — “Water Serpents II,” by Gustav Klimt — was “Cottonmouth,” a kind of snake.

From New York Times • Jan. 31, 2024

Searchlight was the Secret Service’s code name for President Nixon.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin