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decipher
5 dictionary results for: decipher
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
de·ci·pher       [di-sahy-fer] Pronunciation Key
–verb (used with object)
1.to make out the meaning of (poor or partially obliterated writing, etc.): to decipher a hastily scribbled note.
2.to discover the meaning of (anything obscure or difficult to trace or understand): to decipher hieroglyphics.
3.to interpret by the use of a key, as something written in cipher: to decipher a secret message.
4.Obsolete. to depict; portray.
[Origin: 1520–30; trans. of MF déchiffrer. See de-, cipher]

—Related forms
de·ci·pher·a·ble, adjective
de·ci·pher·a·bil·i·ty, noun
de·ci·pher·er, noun
de·ci·pher·ment, noun

—Synonyms 2. comprehend, solve, unravel, explain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
de·ci·pher       (dĭ-sī'fər)  Pronunciation Key 
tr.v.   de·ci·phered, de·ci·pher·ing, de·ci·phers
  1. To read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter). See Synonyms at solve.
  2. To convert from a code or cipher to plain text; decode.

de·ci'pher·a·ble adj., de·ci'pher·er n., de·ci'pher·ment n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
decipher 
1528, from de- + cipher.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
decipher

verb
1. convert code into ordinary language [syn: decode] [ant: encode] 
2. read with difficulty; "Can you decipher this letter?"; "The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Decipher

De*ci"pher\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deciphered; p. pr. & vb. n. Deciphering.] [Pref. de- + cipher. Formed in imitation of F. d['e]chiffrer. See Cipher.]

1. To translate from secret characters or ciphers into intelligible terms; as, to decipher a letter written in secret characters.

2. To find out, so as to be able to make known the meaning of; to make out or read, as words badly written or partly obliterated; to detect; to reveal; to unfold.

3. To stamp; to detect; to discover. [R.]

You are both deciphered, . . . For villains. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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