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

Example Sentences

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codeword

They were given a special codeword to get access to his room.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2023

We’ve all seen the cryptic notations on these documents about special compartments and codeword protections for human and signals intelligence.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 6, 2022

The film’s title is a banking codeword for “be quiet, careful what you say,” and the story prefers the horrors of the unsaid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2021

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

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2021

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

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