codeword
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
codeword (plural codewords)
- (cryptography) A string representing an encoded piece of text.
- Bob cannot get any information out of the codeword since he doesn't know what transmission bases Alice used.
- A word or phrase (or by extension a concept) used to make a (concealed) reference to another word or concept.
- Synonym: dogwhistle
- 1993, The Economist:
- Even the most virtuous concepts were scrutinised by governments eager to interpret them as codewords for something unwelcome.
- 2007, Rough Guides, The Rough Guide to the Energy Crisis, UK: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 194:
- El Niño has hit the headlines as a codeword for bad weather, especially in the Pacific and California. But there is a little more to it than that.
- 2013, Paul Vallely, Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 379:
- The Catholic Church has had problems in the past with fluid notions of gender, most particularly at the United Nations where some groups have used gender as a codeword for reproductive health rights which are deemed to include abortion.
- A type of crossword puzzle where the letters of the alphabet are represented by numbers and the solver must identify them by their position and frequency.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
cryptography: string of encrypted text
type of crossword
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