decipher
- to make out the meaning of (poor or partially obliterated writing, etc.): to decipher a hastily scribbled note.
- to discover the meaning of (anything obscure or difficult to trace or understand): to decipher hieroglyphics.
- to interpret by the use of a key, as something written in cipher: to decipher a secret message.
- Obsolete. to depict; portray.
Origin of decipher
Synonyms for decipher
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for decipher
analyze, elucidate, decode, deduce, unravel, solve, translate, interpret, expound, render, disentangle, read, explain, spell, reveal, break, cipher, unfold, crack, construeExamples from the Web for decipher
Contemporary Examples of decipher
It was beyond the capacity of any human cryptologist to decipher the signals.
I never owned a copy but I knew people who did, and we spent hours in dorm rooms trying to decipher what was on it.
For those few months it may have appeared quite simple to decipher the good from the bad.
The duchess sat at a replica radio to hear, learn about, and decipher morse code.
After a brief exchange to decipher why Smith, Alencar, and Mousa wanted to go to Syria, the journalists told them to go home.
Historical Examples of decipher
Many others are so defaced that it is impossible to decipher them.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
There is not a living eye that could now decipher these memorials.
The New Adam and Eve (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")Nathaniel Hawthorne
Of Greek I can decipher perhaps the greater part of the Greek alphabet.
A Treatise on Parents and ChildrenGeorge Bernard Shaw
To decipher the message, a special code-book or dictionary would be required.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
And still he dreaded the approach of the day when he should decipher its awful meaning.
Masterpieces of MysteryVarious
decipher
- to determine the meaning of (something obscure or illegible)
- to convert from code into plain text; decode