cipher

n 1: a message written in a secret code [syn: {cypher}]

2: a mathematical element that when added to another number

yields the same number [syn: {zero}, {0}, {nought}, {cypher}]

3: a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had

ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had

done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all

for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" [syn: {nothing},

{nil}, {nix}, {nada}, {aught}, {cypher}, {goose egg}, {naught},

{zero}, {zilch}, {zip}]

4: a person of no influence [syn: {cypher}, {nobody}, {nonentity}]

5: a secret method of writing [syn: {cypher}, {cryptograph}, {secret

code}]

v 1: convert ordinary language into code; "We should encode the

message for security reasons" [syn: {encode}, {code}, {encipher},

{cypher}, {encrypt}, {inscribe}, {write in code}] [ant:

{decode}]

2: make a mathematical calculation or computation [syn: {calculate},

{cypher}, {compute}, {reckon}, {figure}]

Clipper

1. An {integrated circuit} which

implements the {SkipJack} {algorithm}. The Clipper is

manufactured by the US government to encrypt telephone data.

It has the added feature that it can be decrypted by the US

government, which has tried to make the chip compulsory in the

United States. Phil Zimmerman (inventor of {PGP}) remarked,

"This doesn't even pass the sniff test" (i.e. it stinks).

{(http://www.wired.com/clipper/)}

{news:alt.privacy.clipper}

2. A compiled {dBASE} dialect from Nantucket Corp, LA.

Versions: Winter 85, Spring 86, Autumn 86, Summer 87, 4.5

(Japanese Kanji), 5.0.

(1995-03-25)