codebreaking
nounUK /ˈkəʊdˌbreɪkɪŋ/
US /ˈkoʊdˌbreɪkɪŋ/
The act of figuring out secret messages without being told the key.
The spies used codebreaking to read the enemy's secret plans.
RELATED WORDS
OTHER MEANINGS
2. The work or study of solving codes and ciphers as a profession or hobby.
She studied codebreaking at a special school for spies.
3. The process of understanding something confusing or hidden.
His codebreaking of the confusing rules helped the whole team.
4. A branch of mathematics and computer science focused on breaking secret codes.
Modern codebreaking relies on powerful computers.