Meaning of code in English

code

noun

/kəʊd/ us

/koʊd/

code noun (COMMUNICATION SYSTEM)

a system of words, letters, or signs used to represent a message in secret form, or a system of numbers, letters, or signals used to represent something in a shorter or more convenient form:

in code The message was written in code.

decipher a code She managed to decipher the code.

crack a code The agencies fear they will be unable to crack (= succeed in understanding) the codes to eavesdrop on spies and criminals.

break a code He spent his career breaking (= succeeding in understanding) codes.

Each entry in this dictionary has a grammar code.

More examplesFewer examples

She ran her code through the compiler.
They cracked the code and read the secret message.
The enemy were unable to break the code.
We realized that his message was some kind of code.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Codes & decoding

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code noun (RULES)

C1 [ C ]

a set of rules that are accepted as general principles, or a set of written rules that say how people in a particular organization or country should behave:

code of conduct Clinics will be subject to a new code of conduct and stronger controls by local authorities.

[ C ]

a set of principles that are accepted and used by society or a particular group of people:

a moral code

a code of behaviour/ethics

More examplesFewer examples

The club has a strict code of conduct.
Members must conform to a strict dress code.
Most evenings there's a party and the dress code is strict - black tie only.
He said he was bound by a scientist's code of ethics.
Newspaper editors have agreed a new code of practice on the invasion of privacy.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Rules & laws

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Morality and rules of behaviour

code noun (COMPUTER)

[ U ] computing specialized

a language used to program (= give instructions to) computers:

The children are learning to write code.

The problem was fixed with about 150 lines of computer code.

More examplesFewer examples

The application contains more than 609,000 lines of code.
We had to rewrite part of the code.
The company was required to disclose some of its computer code so that developers could write competing applications.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Computer programming & software

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code noun (GENES)

[ C or U ] biology specialized

an arrangement of genetic material in DNA (= the chemical that carries genetic information in cells):

Each person's genetic code is unique except in the case of identical twins.

code noun (TYPE OF LANGUAGE)

[ C ] language specialized

a language or dialect (= a form of a language that people speak in a particular part of a country):

People often switch codes depending on the conversational context.

He was interested in the linguistic codes of people living on the margins of society.

See also

code-switch

code-switching

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Linguistic terms & linguistic style

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code

verb

/kəʊd/ us

/koʊd/

code verb (HIDE MESSAGE)

[ T usually passive ]

to represent a message in a system of letters, symbols, or signs, usually so that it can only be understood by the person who is meant to receive it:

The original signal is coded by the scrambler before transmission, and reconstituted into its original form by the receiver.

More examplesFewer examples

Colossus to become the first to crack a message coded by the Lorenz cipher machine used by Nazi high command in the second world war.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Codes & decoding

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code verb (WRITE PROGRAMS)

[ I or T ] computing specialized

to write computer programs (= instructions) using a computer language:

My third grade daughter loves learning to code with MIT's amazing (and free) software.

I have been learning to code programs.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Computer programming & software

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code verb (LABEL AS TYPE)

[ T usually passive ]

to mark something, for example with letters, numbers, a name, or a colour, so that you know what type of thing it is:

To avoid bias in the laboratory, the samples were coded with numbers rather than names of individuals.

be coded as sth Each transaction was coded as a food or drink sale or designated as a tip.

See also

colour-coded

[ T usually passive ]

to describe or represent someone or something as having the qualities associated with a particular type of person or thing, so that they are understood to be that type of person or thing although this is not directly stated:

be coded as sb/sth A character might be coded as gay through the use of traits and stereotypes recognizable to the audience.

Skirts and dresses are coded as feminine in our society.

Related word

-coded

More examplesFewer examples

A response indicating high self esteem was coded as 2, low self esteem 0, and not sure as 1.
Each story in selected bulletins was coded into one of 31 categories for domestic news, while foreign news was separately coded by country.
As you remove the components, code them with letters or numbers so they can be replaced in their proper position.
A panel took a second look at the case after it was discovered it had been wrongly coded.
Different variables were coded to indicate whether each parent had a history of antisocial behaviour.
This kind of lifestyle documentary is usually about people whose lifestyle is carefully coded as meaningful and progressive.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Identifying

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Classifying and creating order

Describing people with the same qualities

Style & appearance of clothes

code verb (GENES)

[ I or T often passive ] biology specialized

to be the genetic code (= the arrangement of genetic material) that produces a particular substance in the body or a particular characteristic:

code for In tomato plants, there is a gene that codes for stem colour.

A single amino acid may be coded for by more than one codon.

ACC1 and ACC2 are coded by two different genes, so the researchers were able to isolate the enzymes.

More examplesFewer examples

He says he has located one of the genes responsible, a gene that codes for the production of neurotransmitters that regulate our moods.
The protein coded by the gene is an important component of the skin's outer protective layer.
Tests were carried out to identify individual proteins that genes coded for.
It was long thought that the active 5 percent of our DNA consisted almost entirely of genes coding the instructions for making proteins, but it turns out that's not true.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Genetics

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(Definition of code from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

code | American Dictionary

code

noun

/koʊd/

code noun (SPECIAL LANGUAGE)

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C/U ]

a system for representing information with signs or symbols that are not ordinary language, or the signs or symbols themselves:

[ U ] Andrew writes computer code.

[ C ] Callers punch in four-digit access codes for various topics.

code noun (PATTERN)

[ C ] biology us/koʊd/

genetic code

code noun (RULES)

[ C ]

rules for the way people should behave, or a set of written rules or laws that tell people what to do:

Faculty members are expected to follow the school’s honor code.

Is there a dress code where you work?

Fire codes prohibit locking classroom doors.

code

verb [ T ]

/koʊd/

to represent information in a way that is not ordinary language, as with special signs or symbols:

Many areas of the brain code and store information.

coded

adjective [ not gradable ] us

/ˈkoʊ·dɪd/

Electronically coded cards are issued to food-stamp recipients.

(Definition of code from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

code | Business English

code

noun

/kəʊd/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C or U ]

a set or system of numbers, letters, or signs which is known only to particular people and represents something that is secret:

access/security code You need an access code to get into the building.

in code The message was written in code.

[ C ]

a system of words, letters, or signs which is used to represent something so that it is easy to know which thing or type of thing it is:

product/identification code The FDA Product Code describes a product or a group of products.

We will give you a unique code to use when you make a booking.

[ U ] IT

the letters, numbers, words, and symbols used for writing computer programs:

computer/digital code Java computer code

write/generate/execute code

[ C ]

a set of principles, or a set of rules which state how people in a particular organization, job, etc. should behave:

abide by/follow a code All our members follow a strict professional code.

He has his own moral code for the way he does business.

a code of behaviour/conduct

[ C, usually singular ] LAW

a set of rules or laws:

the state's legal code

Their aim is to work out a code to end sweatshops.

Examples of code

code

Because instrumented code is (almost) ordinary source, it can be processed by the ordinary compiler.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Phonetic analysis of speech and memory codes in beginning readers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

By comparison, the earlier building orders, regulations and codes did not go beyond some basic controls and general precautions against the danger of fire.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We now present as follows an approach to representing code involving general pattern matching.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The remaining worksheets seem to refer to codes that were solved elsewhere.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The start-up code calls the first function and then enters an infinite loop.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In their life styles and genomic structures they both are minimalists, that is, they code only very limited functions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Three undergraduate students were trained to code the videotapes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The transcriber was also trained to recognize the types of error made by young children and to note errors with error codes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Second, embedded systems frequently consider system and software diagnosis in the allocation and assignment of error codes during coding tasks.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This modification is made with minimal changes to the code presented thus far.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Verbal working memory is involved in associative word learning unless visual codes are available.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

At the same time, limiting references to closed code types is too restrictive because it disallows references to functions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Another, potentially bigger benefit is that the inference can make program code robust against changes of types.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We have here made a design choice to choose the use of nameless variables in code representation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of code

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with code

code

These are words often used in combination with code.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

access code

The access code is 1.04.19.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

alphanumeric code

A third advantage in an alphanumeric code is that letters and numbers give more code combinations than numbers alone.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

cheat code

In computing, the word is sometimes used as a metasyntactic variable or as a video game cheat code, the canonical magic word.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

See all collocations with code

What is the pronunciation of code?

Translations of code

in Chinese (Traditional)

語言, 密碼, 代號…

in Chinese (Simplified)

语言, 密码, 代号…

in Spanish

clave, cifra, código…

in Portuguese

código, cifra, codificar…

in more languages

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सांकेतिक भाषा, अलिखित नियम, निर्बंध - समाज किंवा लोकांच्या विशिष्ट गटाद्वारे स्वीकारला आणि वापरला जाणारा तत्त्वांचा एक संच…

暗号, （電話の）市外局番, ～を暗号にする…

kod, şifre, telefon kodu/bölge kodu…

code [masculine], code, coder…

clau, prefix, xifrar…

code, coderen…

இரகசிய வடிவத்தில் ஒரு செய்தியைக் குறிக்கப் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் சொற்கள், கடிதங்கள் அல்லது குறி அமைப்பு அல்லது குறுகிய அல்லது வசதியான வடிவத்தில் எதையாவது குறிக்கப் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் எண்கள், கடிதங்கள் அல்லது சமிக்ஞைகளின் அமைப்பு…

कोड, गुप्त भाषा, संहिता…

કોડ, ગુપ્ત ભાષા, સંહીતા…

lovsamling, regelsæt, kodeks…

kodex, [oskrivna] regler (lagar), kod…

kanun, kod, mengekodkan…

das Regelbuch, der Code, verschlüsseln…