crypto

noun cryp·to \ ˈkrip-(ˌ)tō \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Definition of crypto

plural cryptos

1 : a person who adheres or belongs secretly to a party, sect, or other group

2 : cryptography 2

Recent Examples of crypto from the Web

Video explains common bacteria, crypto, and has tips to keep swimmers safe.

— anna douglas and rachel jones, charlotteobserver, "Before you jump in, do you know how clean your Charlotte-area pool is?," 5 June 2018
While no significant trend was observed after 2007, the CDC said outbreaks caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium, also known as crypto, increased 25 percent per year between 2000 and 2006.

— fiza pirani, ajc, "CDC warns pools, hot tubs and water parks are hotbed for disease outbreaks," 22 May 2018
Meanwhile, crypto company Xapo, which has an office in Palo Alto, just raised $40 million in funding.

— trisha thadani, San Francisco Chronicle, "In the spotlight: Klout is out, Google is cloudy, and Xapo’s wallet expands," 21 May 2018
Some authorities, including Joe McCann, a former Wall Street trader and founder of the tech company NodeSource, said there's a need for consultants in crypto assets, but they are not licensed or regulated.

— grace schneider, The Courier-Journal, "How two Louisville college dropouts in their 20s made a mint in Bitcoins," 29 Mar. 2018
Now, in The Suicide of the West, an older, more circumspect Goldberg, having spent more than a decade arguing that liberals are mindless crypto-fascists, is here to warn us that incautious rhetoric is tearing the country apart.

— park macdougald, Daily Intelligencer, "The Idea-Free Book That Has the Right Excited About Ideas," 1 June 2018
The lack of an incumbent giant is one reason why there is so much investor enthusiasm for crypto-currencies and for synthetic biology today.

— The Economist, "American tech giants are making life tough for startups," 31 May 2018
That could erode Coinbase’s hold over retail crypto investors.

— alexander osipovich, WSJ, "Can the Biggest U.S. Bitcoin Exchange Win Over Wall Street?," 27 May 2018
Scottsdale's municipal pools and recreational water facilities employ periodic hyper-chlorination and UV disinfection to combat crypto, said Ken Shoup, the city's aquatic maintenance supervisor.

— agnel philip, azcentral, "Pool season is crypto season: How to lower the odds of getting infected," 26 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crypto.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of crypto

(sense 1) independent use of crypto-; (sense 2) by shortening

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1946

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

crypto

adjective

Definition of crypto

1 : not openly avowed or declared —often used in combination

crypto-fascist

2 : cryptographic

Recent Examples of crypto from the Web

Get our daily newsletter Blockchain technology, which underpins crypto-currencies, could be one way to avoid the banks.

— The Economist, "Central banks should consider offering accounts to everyone," 26 May 2018
Matsumoto, who declined to specify a timeline for the U.S. expansion, has a lot riding on his crypto bet: Monex shares have surged 98 percent since news of the Coincheck takeover emerged last month, the biggest gain in Japan’s benchmark Topix Index.

— Fortune, "Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Coincheck Is Plotting Its Comeback," 18 May 2018
For example, currently crypto-exchanges do not meet the minimum cybersecurity or transparency standards.

— brian swint, Bloomberg.com, "BOE's FPC Sees U.K. Domestic Risk Appetite Creeping Back Up," 16 Mar. 2018
Mafee winds up paying a fine, and Axe gives him $1 million in crypto currency.

— rebecca farley, refinery29.com, "Billions Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: "I Almost Feel Bad"," 7 May 2018
Such data as there are suggest that crypto-laundering is still a small share of the whole.

— The Economist, "Crypto money-laundering," 26 Apr. 2018
One key challenge for this role, according to the posting, would be to help the firm assign a valuation to its crypto assets, which isn’t easy given how volatile some cryptocurrencies have proven to be.

— theodore schleifer, Recode, "Andreessen Horowitz is preparing to launch a separate fund for crypto investments," 24 Apr. 2018
To be sure, crypto die-hards are still passionate about digital currencies.

— steven russolillo, WSJ, "Bitcoin’s Hype Vanishes Just Like That: ‘We’re in the Boring Phase’," 12 Apr. 2018
But new buyers will be harder to tempt now that crypto-currencies no longer look like a one-way bet.

— The Economist, "Catching the bitcoin bug," 12 Apr. 2018

First Known Use of crypto

1681

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Medical Dictionary

crypto

noun cryp·to \ ˈkrip-(ˌ)tō \

medical Definition of crypto

: cryptosporidium 2; also : cryptosporidiosis

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