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• color code
  color code

  noun

  any system of marking or visual designation that uses specific colors for indicating or simplifying, as on a chart or map or in an industrial plant.
• color-code
  color-code

  verb (used with object)

  to distinguish or classify with a color code.

color code

¹ American  

noun

1. any system of marking or visual designation that uses specific colors for indicating or simplifying, as on a chart or map or in an industrial plant.

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color-code ² American  

[kuhl-er-kohd] / ˈkʌl ərˌkoʊd /

verb (used with object)

color-coded, color-coding

1. to distinguish or classify with a color code.

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Etymology

Origin of color-code

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

color code color-code color-coded color-coding

"Beyond imaging, a DNA color code could have very useful applications in data storage on DNA," says Tadija Keki?,

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2023

It's not legislation to have to put on the front and color code it so that a busy working parent can decide.

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2023

Two examples of topological codes are called the surface code and the color code.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 19, 2022

The observatory also changed the aviation color code to “orange,” alerting pilots that there’s potential for an eruption and they may need to avoid the area if one occurs.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2021

The mother had devised the color code to save time.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Adapting an approach commonly used by immunologists, the team was able to color-code individual particles within cells using antibodies and then sort them by color.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023

As Shapiro rose to be a manager, he became fluent in the color-code vocabulary.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2019

And as with Himes, you can’t color-code for good and bad guys.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 9, 2016

You can color-code each item to make identifying different categories of products easy, and items the app does not already have can be typed in.

From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2016

I decided to color-code the list for each set of traits, marking a small dot next to the list entry.

From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2013

But "Category 1" ticket holders were placed in sections that, at one point, were color-coded as "Category 2," according to the report.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

Ticket-buyers were led to believe Category 1 seats were the most expensive, encompassing most of the lower bowl, according to color-coded seat maps released by FIFA.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

In private prisons across the country, detained persons are herded through secure checkpoints, forced to wear color-coded uniforms, and locked in cells.

From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026

After the images are collected, software analyzes delicate patterns in the scattered light to generate color-coded maps of fiber orientation and density, known as microstructure-informed fiber orientation distributions.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 9, 2025

The time on my laptop reads 9:00 a.m., and I pull the med cart closer, looking at the color-coded clumps I laid out yesterday.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

Census reports suggests that the old civic-cultural norm in “whiteness” is fading and that no other official color-coding can tell us who “we” really are.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024

Intentional use of color-coding was very important to participants, increasing both their understanding and perception of credibility.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2023

Placing colored strips on stair risers, varying textures of furniture and color-coding objects can all improve the ability to navigate safely.

From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2021

So is there any actual benefit to color-coding the baby or harm in not doing so?

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2019

A note on insulation color-coding: Insulating plastic is color-coded to identify live/hot, neutral and ground wires but these codes vary around the world.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015