MEANING
1. To recover readable or usable information from a coded representation.
2. To understand meaning that is unfamiliar, indirect, or difficult to interpret.
Use it for
describing the recovery of a coded message; distinguishing interpretation of a format from guessing; explaining the reverse of an encoding processDistinguishes recovering a coded message from interpreting significance that is unfamiliar, indirect, or difficult to understand. Writing functions: Analysis / Interpretation, Interpretation.
Words that belong together
- decode a message
- decode a signal
- decode encoded data
On the page
The receiver decodes the signal before displaying the transmitted text.
The report distinguishes the ability to decode the file from permission to use its contents.
The visitor could read every word but struggled to decode the invitation’s social meaning.
The class decoded the unfamiliar expression from its use in the surrounding dialogue.
Word forms
- Base
- decode
- Past tense
- decoded
- Past participle
- decoded
- Present participle
- decoding
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- decode
- Present continuous
- am/is/are decoding
- Present perfect
- have/has decoded
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been decoding
- Past
- decoded
- Past continuous
- was/were decoding
- Past perfect
- had decoded
- Past perfect continuous
- had been decoding
- Future
- will decode
- Future continuous
- will be decoding
- Future perfect
- will have decoded
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been decoding
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Transitive verb; decodes, decoded, decoded, decoding. Future will decode. Decode a message or meaning; language-learning use can be intransitive. Register: technical. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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