International Code

American  

noun

1. a code used at sea by the navies of certain nations, using a series of flags representing digits from zero through nine.

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Etymology

Origin of International Code

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

It was a bottom-up process, messily divided between three distinct code-making organizations until the 1990s, when the International Code Council was created.

From Slate • Feb. 28, 2025

The SuperAdobe has International Code Conference approval as a form of adobe architecture, and the organization is working on getting the structures International Residential Code approval next.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2025

The report's authors and several external experts said it was time to reform the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.

From Reuters • Feb. 22, 2022

The International Code Council first recommended them for many newly constructed and renovated single-family homes in 2009 and apartment complexes in 2012.

From Salon • May 7, 2021

Again a line of flags were hoisted on the trawler's halyards, this time a well-known signal from the International Code, but still no notice was taken of the peremptory order it conveyed.

From Submarine Warfare of To-day How the Submarine Menace was Met and Vanquished, With Descriptions of the Inventions and Devices Used, Fast Boats, Mystery Ships by Domville-Fife, Charles W. (Charles William)