code word

Noun

codeword (plural codewords)

1. 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.
2. A word or phrase (or by extension a concept) used to make a (concealed) reference to another word or concept.
   • While all the cats are frolicking and singing, the aging Grizabella cat, noted once for her glamour, keeps wandering onstage and singing bits of "Memory." The other cats shun her as a pariah, an outcast. Dressed in rags, looking pathetic, it's clear that her only sin was once being "glamorous,"...1984 February 4, Michael Bronski, “Cats: Straight and Boring”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 17

   Synonyms:

   dogwhistle

3. (crosswording) 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.