as in dead metaphor
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Recent Examples of code word
Whereas other sites and apps almost eliminated drug postings after scrutiny by law enforcement, dealers on Craigslist seemingly remained active using code words.
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Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2024
The number started out as a code word used by several stony Marin County high-school students trying to skirt police, parents and teachers.
—Brad Branan, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
Apple—that was the code word the Commander himself had chosen.
—Hazlitt, 24 Jan. 2024
The watermelon emoji also serves a particular purpose for social media users as supporters of the Palestinian cause turn to code words, symbols and special spellings, arguing that these are necessary to avoid their posts being suppressed by tech companies.
—Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023
See all Example Sentences for code word 
Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2024
The number started out as a code word used by several stony Marin County high-school students trying to skirt police, parents and teachers.
—Brad Branan, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
Apple—that was the code word the Commander himself had chosen.
—Hazlitt, 24 Jan. 2024
The watermelon emoji also serves a particular purpose for social media users as supporters of the Palestinian cause turn to code words, symbols and special spellings, arguing that these are necessary to avoid their posts being suppressed by tech companies.
—Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023
See all Example Sentences for code word
Recent Examples of Synonyms for code word
Noun
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Many of our emotion terms are references to states of the body—we’re downcast, bent out of shape, head over heels, shaken up, down in the mouth—which have slowly rigidified into dead metaphor.Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
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This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
Noun
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Given the motor-racing analogies, Senna is a good place to start.Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2024
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The alleged analogy is that Salazar, an NBA fan, simply watched a video on NBA.com.Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 16 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Later, when asked about his evolution as a coach, Harbaugh described himself as open to change and used a mall-entrance simile to make his point.Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2024
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As the simile suggests, the pen could be used as a weapon, producing militant verses that would advance the nationalist cause.Maggie Doherty, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
Noun
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Her second prank ended up with Ubah puking up Jenna Lyon’s perfect pavlova (not a euphemism).Brian Moylan, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2024
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Many experts argue that both are simply euphemisms for extrajudicial executions, which the laws of armed conflict proscribe.Sarah E. Parkinson, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2024
Noun
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There’s hardly any esoteric metaphors to be found in this far-reaching work.Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 4 Nov. 2024
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In his first run for office, in 2018, Allred topped a crowded Democratic field and, in a surprise, beat an 11-term incumbent Republican to win the seat he’s held ever since. Bidding now for a second upset, Allred’s Senate campaign is mercifully short on football metaphors.Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
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By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
Thesaurus Entries Near code word
Cite this Entry
“Code word.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/code%20word. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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