Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - code

~1 n 1 »BEHAVIOUR« a set of rules that tell people how to behave in their life or in certain situations  (code of conduct/behaviour)  (Fry rejected the accepted code of behaviour and married one of his servants.) 2 »RULES/LAWS« a set of written rules or laws  (Each state in the US has a different criminal and civil code. | dress code (=rule about what clothes you must wear in a school, business etc)) 3 code of practice a set of rules that people in a particular business or profession agree to obey  (The film industry wants to produce a code of practice for employers.) 4 »SECRET MESSAGE« a system of words, letters, or signs that you use instead of ordinary words when you are writing something that you want to keep secret  (in code)  (Send your reports in code. | break/crack a code (=manage to understand a secret code)) 5 »SIGNS GIVING INFORMATION« a set of numbers, letters, or signs that show what something is or give information about it  (Most countries have some form of postal code that speeds mail delivery.)  (- see also bar code, postcode, zip code) 6 »TELEPHONES« dialling code, STD code BrE the group of numbers that come before a telephone number when you are calling from a different area; area code AmE  (What's the code for Aberdeen?) 7 »COMPUTERS« a set of instructions that tell a computer what to do  (- see also machine code, source code) 8 »SOUNDS/SIGNALS« a system of sounds or signals that represent words or letters when they are sent by machine  (a telegraphic code)  (- see also Morse code) ~2 v 1 to put a set of numbers, letters, or signs on something to show what it is or give information about it  (Product orders should be coded according to where they will be shipped.) 2 to put a message in code so that it is secret 3 colour code to mark a group of things with different colours so that you can tell the difference between them - coded adj  (a coded message)