American

[kohd] / koʊd /

noun

codes
plural

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.
1. a set of symbols that can be interpreted by a computer or piece of software: Java code;
  
  binary code;
  Java code;
  ASCII code.
2. 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.
1. the system of rules shared by the participants in an act of communication, making possible the transmission and interpretation of messages.
2. (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.

verb (used with object)

codes,
present (3rd person singular)
coded,
past participle, past
coding
present participle

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 byup ).

Hire a programmer to code up a website for you.

verb (used without object)

codes,
present (3rd person singular)
coded,
past participle, past
coding
present participle

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.

code British

/ 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, etc See also genetic code

binary code
Morse code
a message in code
a symbol used in a code
a conventionalized set of principles, rules, or expectations

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

"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

verb

to translate, transmit, or arrange into a code

"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

code Scientific

/ 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

code Cultural

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

codes

plural

Conjugated Forms

Etymology

Origin of code

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

Explanation

A code can be a set of principles. Our laws make up our legal code, and many people govern themselves through a personal "code of honor." Code can also mean a system for sending secret messages, or programming language for computers. In 1303, you could only use code to mean a set of laws, such as a code of conduct. It wasn’t until 1808 that you could use code to describe a system for sending secret messages. The verb form appeared in 1815, meaning to create laws or send secret messages, and gave birth to encode. In the computer programming context, encode was shortened back again to code, meaning to write instructions for a computer program. Soon the lines of text themselves began to be referred to as simply code.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing code

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

code codes coded coding

Capital punishment remains in the country's penal code for some offences, but no execution has been carried out since 1993.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Those records do not always include a code specifically identifying a new heart failure diagnosis.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026

New Mexico’s insurance code governs how insurance holding companies register with the state.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Minsal believes it’s possible to balance tougher code enforcement against the criminal element with legalization of those who are “surviving, just trying to do their best.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

England, France, and Germany were at war; their stations carried mostly war reports or code messages and many frequencies were jammed.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Locations hoisted the largest American flags allowed by local zoning codes and served Patriot Shakes for the country’s 250th anniversary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

The number of heart failure-related hospitalizations was higher than the number of newly diagnosed heart failure cases because hospitals may enter a variety of related diagnostic codes.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026

The contemporary grocery aisle is full of labels, QR codes, lot numbers and assurances of transparency; nevertheless, the person pushing the cart is increasingly asked to perform the work of tracing the food backward herself.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

Pakistan has dealt with a number of major fires in recent years, with poor safety laws, building codes and lax enforcement often blamed for steep death tolls.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

They knew that many people would—wrongly—assume that William was helping his wife to break Chinese codes.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

As Thaler and Johnson wrote: “Until the winnings are completely depleted, losses are coded as reductions in a gain, as if losing some of ‘their money’ doesn’t hurt as much as losing one’s own cash.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

If this had been coded correctly, a "timelier" ambulance response would "likely" have been sent.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

It also prohibits the use of “sell by” dates on food packaging, but it does allow coded “sell by” dates that retain stock rotation information for retailers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

“Do they actually notice what they’re supposed to notice? Do they make the first steps they’re supposed to take? All those options can be coded into those kinds of simulations,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

In their coded exchanges they had drawn close, but how artificial that closeness seemed now as they embarked on their small talk, their helpless catechism of polite query and response.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

The rise of vibe coding, meanwhile, would make building custom software radically cheaper and easier.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 30, 2026

He noted that "vibe coding" – making an app or website using AI rather than by coding it manually – was "all the rage".

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

There was also richer fare on offer: In announcing the project, the company pledged to invest $80 million in the community and provide as much as $71 million in coding credits to local students.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

SpaceX now owns AI software coding tool Cursor.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

This type of molecule is thought to be the oldest and most “primitive” coding mechanism for life.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023