cipher
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++ci·pher, cypher /ˈsaɪfə $ -ər/ noun 1 [countable, uncountable] formalSECRET a system of secret writing 密码；暗号 SYN code an expert in ciphers 密码专家 messages written in cipher 用密码写的信息2 UNIMPORTANT[countable] someone who is not important and has no power or influence 无足轻重[无权无势]的人 At work, she was a cipher, a functionary, nothing more. 在工作上她是个无足轻重的人，一名普通职员，仅此而已。3. HM[countable] literary the number 0 〔数字〕零 SYN zero
Examples from the Corpus
cipher• No one is a cipher, and Maloney tries to give his subjects a character, a singular demeanour and poise.• When I felt outrage was I simply a cipher for cultural prejudice?• He was a cipher to me, a silent man of abstracted benevolence, and I never got to know him well.• The embassy was ordered to destroy its cipher equipment and remaining codes.• The women are strong characters, but the men in this movie are mere ciphers.• The first would be to protect Britain's own secrets by developing the necessary cipher machines, codes and operating procedures.• One bears the Romanov double-headed eagle, another the cipher of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth.• A pair of rock crystal goblets engraved with the cipher of Peter the Great.Origin cipher (1300-1400) Old French cifre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr “empty, zero”ci·pher nounChineseSyllable
of writing Corpus secret a system
cipher
ci‧pher
, cypher /ˈsaɪfə $ -ər/ noun
SYN code:
an expert in ciphers
messages written in cipher
2. [countable] someone who is not important and has no power or influence:
At work, she was a cipher, a functionary, nothing more.
3. [countable] literary the number 0
SYN zero
ci‧pher
, cypher /ˈsaɪfə $ -ər/ noun Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: cifre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr __empty, zero__
1. [uncountable and countable] formal a system of secret writing Language: Old French
Origin: cifre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr __empty, zero__
SYN code:
2. [countable] someone who is not important and has no power or influence:
3. [countable] literary the number 0
SYN zero