code

[ kohd ]

/ koʊd /

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See synonyms for: code / coded / codes / coding on Thesaurus.com

noun

a system for communication by telegraph, heliograph, etc., in which long and short sounds, light flashes, etc., are used to symbolize the content of a message: Morse code.

a system used for brevity or secrecy of communication, in which arbitrarily chosen words, letters, or symbols are assigned definite meanings.

indirect wording that is euphemistic, deceptive, or opaque: The firm says its testing methodology is “proprietary”—which some believe is code for “hidden from scrutiny.”

any set of standards set forth and enforced by a local government agency for the protection of public safety, health, etc., as in the structural safety of buildings (building code ), health requirements for plumbing, ventilation, etc. (sanitary code or health code ), and the specifications for fire escapes or exits (fire code ).

a systematically arranged collection or compendium of laws, rules, or regulations.

any authoritative, general, systematic, and written statement of the legal rules and principles applicable in a given legal order to one or more broad areas of life.

a word, letter, number, or other symbol used in a code system to mark, represent, or identify something: The code on the label shows the date of manufacture.

Computers.

a set of symbols that can be interpreted by a computer or piece of software: binary code; Java code; ASCII code.
the symbolic arrangement of statements or instructions in a computer program, or the set of instructions in such a program: That program took 3000 lines of code.

any system or collection of rules and regulations: a gentleman's code of behavior.

Medicine/Medical. a directive or alert to a hospital team assigned to emergency resuscitation of patients.

Genetics. genetic code.

Linguistics.

the system of rules shared by the participants in an act of communication, making possible the transmission and interpretation of messages.
(in sociolinguistic theory) one of two distinct styles of language use that differ in degree of explicitness and are sometimes thought to be correlated with differences in social class.Compare elaborated code, restricted code.

verb (used with object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

to translate (a message) into a code; encode.

to categorize or identify by assigning a code to: All specimens were coded prior to the test.

to arrange or enter (laws or statutes) in a code.

Computers. to write code for (a computer program or application) (often followed by up): Hire a programmer to code up a website for you.

verb (used without object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

Genetics. to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein by the sequence of nucleotides comprising the gene for that protein: a gene that codes for the production of insulin.

Computers. to write computer code.

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Origin of code

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin cōdex “book”; see codex

OTHER WORDS FROM code

cod·er, nouncode·less, adjectivepre·code, verb (used with object), pre·cod·ed, pre·cod·ing.re·code, verb (used with object), re·cod·ed, re·cod·ing.

sub·code, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use code in a sentence

There, he developed the internal code review tool Mondrian and worked on App Engine.
Python creator Guido van Rossum joins Microsoft|Frederic Lardinois|November 12, 2020|TechCrunch
These contain the code necessary for your shortcuts to work on Windows in response to your key presses, like making sure the “run” command launches programs and the “send” command types text.
Become a Windows whiz by creating your own keyboard shortcuts|David Nield|November 12, 2020|Popular-Science
Once the scanner finishes, it spits out a report describing where the vulnerabilities are in the code.
Mobile security startup Oversecured launches after self-funding $1 million, thanks to bug bounty payouts|Zack Whittaker|November 12, 2020|TechCrunch
Some students have even tried to take the software down from the inside, digging through the code for details on how it monitors millions of high-stakes exams.
Cheating-detection companies made millions during the pandemic. Now students are fighting back.|Drew Harwell|November 12, 2020|Washington Post

When he asked the Google Health team to share the code for its cancer-screening AI, he was told that it needed more testing.
AI is wrestling with a replication crisis|Emily Luong|November 12, 2020|MIT Technology Review

British Dictionary definitions for code

code

/ (kəʊd) /

noun

a system of letters or symbols, and rules for their association by means of which information can be represented or communicated for reasons of secrecy, brevity, etcbinary code; Morse code See also genetic code

a message in code

a symbol used in a code

a conventionalized set of principles, rules, or expectationsa code of behaviour

a system of letters or digits used for identification or selection purposes

verb (tr)

to translate, transmit, or arrange into a code

Word Origin for code

C14: from French, from Latin cōdex book, codex

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

Scientific definitions for code

code

[ kōd ]

A system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages.

The instructions in a computer program. Instructions written by a programmer in a programming language are often called source code. Instructions that have been converted into machine language that the computer understands are called machine code or executable code. See also programming language.

Cultural definitions for code

code

A series of instructions designed to be fed into a computer.

code

Origin of code

OTHER WORDS FROM code

Words related to code

How to use code in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for code

Word Origin for code

Scientific definitions for code

Cultural definitions for code