code

[ kohd ]

noun

1. a system for communication by telegraph, heliograph, etc., in which long and short sounds, light flashes, etc., are used to symbolize the content of a message:

   Morse code.

2. a system used for brevity or secrecy of communication, in which arbitrarily chosen words, letters, or symbols are assigned definite meanings.
3. indirect wording that is euphemistic, deceptive, or opaque:

   The firm says its testing methodology is “proprietary”—which some believe is code for “hidden from scrutiny.”

4. any set of standards set forth and enforced by a local government agency for the protection of public safety, health, etc., as in the structural safety of buildings building code, health requirements for plumbing, ventilation, etc. sanitary code or health code, and the specifications for fire escapes or exits fire code.
5. a systematically arranged collection or compendium of laws, rules, or regulations.
6. any authoritative, general, systematic, and written statement of the legal rules and principles applicable in a given legal order to one or more broad areas of life.
7. a word, letter, number, or other symbol used in a code system to mark, represent, or identify something:

   The code on the label shows the date of manufacture.

8. Computers.
   1. a set of symbols that can be interpreted by a computer or piece of software: Java code;

      binary code;

      Java code;

      ASCII code.

   2. the symbolic arrangement of statements or instructions in a computer program, or the set of instructions in such a program:

      That program took 3000 lines of code.

9. any system or collection of rules and regulations:

   a gentleman's code of behavior.

10. Medicine/Medical. a directive or alert to a hospital team assigned to emergency resuscitation of patients.
11. Genetics. genetic code.
12. Linguistics.
    1. the system of rules shared by the participants in an act of communication, making possible the transmission and interpretation of messages.
    2. (in sociolinguistic theory) one of two distinct styles of language use that differ in degree of explicitness and are sometimes thought to be correlated with differences in social class. Compare elaborated code, restricted code.

verb (used with object)

, cod·ed, cod·ing.

1. to translate (a message) into a code; encode.
2. to categorize or identify by assigning a code to:

   All specimens were coded prior to the test.

3. to arrange or enter (laws or statutes) in a code.
4. Computers. to write code for (a computer program or application) (often followed by up ):

   Hire a programmer to code up a website for you.

verb (used without object)

, cod·ed, cod·ing.

1. Genetics. to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein by the sequence of nucleotides comprising the gene for that protein:

   a gene that codes for the production of insulin.

2. Computers. to write computer code.

code

/ kəʊd /

noun

1. See genetic code
   a system of letters or symbols, and rules for their association by means of which information can be represented or communicated for reasons of secrecy, brevity, etc See also genetic code

   binary code

   Morse code

2. a message in code
3. a symbol used in a code
4. a conventionalized set of principles, rules, or expectations

   a code of behaviour

5. a system of letters or digits used for identification or selection purposes

verb

1. to translate, transmit, or arrange into a code

code

/ kōd /

1. A system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages.
2. The instructions in a computer program. Instructions written by a programmer in a programming language are often called source code . Instructions that have been converted into machine language that the computer understands are called machine code or executable code .
3. See also programming language

code

1. A series of instructions designed to be fed into a computer .

Other Words From

• cod·er noun
• code·less adjective
• pre·code verb (used with object) precoded precoding
• re·code verb (used with object) recoded recoding
• sub·code noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of code¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin cōdex “book”; codex none

Word History and Origins

Origin of code¹

C14: from French, from Latin cōdex book, codex

Example Sentences

Unlike other, more complex algorithms, it allows a user to take any video of a person’s face and use it to animate a photo of someone else’s face with only a few lines of code.

From MIT Technology Review

It will require apps to ask users for permission to collect and share data using a unique code that identifies their iPhones and iPads.

From Fortune

Postal workers expedite millions of ballots to voters and then bring completed ones to county election offices, where they are tracked using bar codes.

From Fortune

She was told that because of her ZIP code, she was a high-risk patient and was moved to a quarantine room to deliver her baby.

From ProPublica

Because of an error in the computer code, the researchers say, their findings — that humans outperformed a computer game that simulated quantum mechanics — are not valid.

From Science News

Based on a true story” is film code for “this may or may not have happened, but almost certainly not in this way.

From The Daily Beast

In Brazil people color code their underwear according to their needs.

From The Daily Beast

These addresses were used by whoever carried out the attack to control the malware and can be found in the malware code itself.

From The Daily Beast

The source code for the original “Shamoon” malware is widely known to have leaked.

From The Daily Beast

Enforcement of U.S Code, Title VII, Chapter 25A “Export Standards for Grapes and Plums” remains fully funded, thank goodness.

From The Daily Beast

It is no part of the present essay to attempt to detail the particulars of a code of social legislation.

From Project Gutenberg

The minimum wage law ought to form, in one fashion or another, a part of the code of every community.

From Project Gutenberg

Plato, dissatisfied with the laws of his country, wrote out a code of morals and laws which he thought much better.

From Project Gutenberg

The objectors consider it to be a most selfish doctrine without any warrant in the civilised code of morality.

From Project Gutenberg

Why is a cankered tie indissoluble, notwithstanding the great maxim adopted by the code, Quicquid ligatur dissolubile est?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• author
• program
• write