cypher

/ˈsaɪfər/
verb
  1. To write or convert a message into a secret code.
    • The software can cypher your emails so no one else can read them.
    • I learned how to cypher simple messages using a substitution alphabet.
    • The general ordered his assistant to cypher the battle plans before sending them.
  2. To calculate or work out using arithmetic; to compute.
    • The students were asked to cypher the answer to the long division problem.
    • She cyphered the total cost in her head before reaching the register.
    • The accountant spent the afternoon cyphering the company's expenses.
Synonyms
Antonyms
noun
  1. A secret system of writing, or a message written in such a system, that uses letters or symbols to hide the meaning.
    • Breaking the enemy's cypher took the codebreakers many months.
    • She learned a simple cypher to write notes that her little brother couldn't understand.
    • The spy sent the message in a cypher that only the agent could read.
  2. A person or thing that has no importance or influence; a nobody.
    • In the huge corporation, he felt like a cypher, easily replaced.
    • After the scandal, the former leader became a political cypher.
    • The quiet student was treated as a cypher by the popular kids.
  3. The number zero (0).
    • In math class, we learned that a cypher can change the value of other numbers.
    • The scoreboard showed a big cypher after the team failed to score.
    • He added a cypher to the end of the number to make it ten times larger.
  4. A monogram or decorative design made by combining letters, especially initials.
    • She designed a beautiful cypher of her and her husband's initials for their wedding.
    • The silver spoon had an ornate cypher on the handle.
    • The royal cypher was embroidered on the king's handkerchief.
What does "cypher" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean