decode
verb
de·code
(ˌ)dē-ˈkōd 
decoded; decoding; decodes
1
a
: to convert (something, such as a coded message) into intelligible form
b
: to recognize and interpret (an electronic signal)
2
b
: to discover the underlying meaning of
decode the play's imagery
Did you know?
To decode is to take out of code and put into understandable language. (Its opposite is encode, "to put into coded form".) But dreams may sometimes also be decoded; psychologists often try to decode the images of their patients' dreams so as to understand the emotions behind them. And readers must often decode what a novel or story or poem is telling them, which may require two or three readings. Decipher is often a synonym, though we now use it when talking about reading difficult handwriting.
Examples of decode in a Sentence
Readers can easily decode the novel's imagery.
I'm trying to decode the expression on her face.
The box decodes the digital signal for your CD player.
Recent Examples on the Web
With just a pea-size glob of scat, biologists can genetically decode which individual whale produced the sample.
—
Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
There is nothing Swifties love more than decoding Easter eggs for Taylor Swift‘s Reputation.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2025
The filters on LLMs like Google Gemini, DeepSeek and Grok weren’t powerful enough to decode these instructions on their own.
—Peter Hall, Quanta Magazine, 10 Dec. 2025
Richer movement alphabet Ramana Vinjamuri, a professor at UMBC and lead author of the study, has spent more than a decade trying to decode how the brain manages detailed hand control.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decode
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Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
There is nothing Swifties love more than decoding Easter eggs for Taylor Swift‘s Reputation.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2025
The filters on LLMs like Google Gemini, DeepSeek and Grok weren’t powerful enough to decode these instructions on their own.
—Peter Hall, Quanta Magazine, 10 Dec. 2025
Richer movement alphabet Ramana Vinjamuri, a professor at UMBC and lead author of the study, has spent more than a decade trying to decode how the brain manages detailed hand control.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decode
Cite this Entry
“Decode.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decode. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
decode
verb
de·code
(ˈ)dē-ˈkōd
: to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language
decoder
noun
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