codeword

British

/ ˈkəʊdˌwɜːd /

noun

Also: codename. (esp in military use) a word used to identify a classified plan, operation, etc

"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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codeword

The RAF personnel used "zombie" as their codeword for a Russian plane acting suspiciously.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2023

Another codeword is the term Grus 200, or Cargo 200.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2022

It’s less a codeword between insiders than a veiled taunt.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2021

Within ten minutes he broke the codeword and we needed to put another one on the computer.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2020

Thus "amber" is the codeword for £1; "heliotrope" for £20; "rainbow" for "win and 1, 2."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, April 8, 1914 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023