Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of cryptonym.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • They talk about that long before they talk about cryptonyms and dead drops.

    Charles Cumming talks about his spy novels: The Hidden Man, A Spy By Nature and The Spanish Game 2010

  • Redruth and Bulanov boast about people with cryptonyms like Elli and Homer, Basil and Timon.

    Final Resting Place of The Pen 2010

  • I have left all my notes, together with names, cryptonyms, intelligence digests, information gathered, and hints for Croesus to press my case further with C and, if necessary, the Prime Minister, Lord help the poor old bugger.

    Final Resting Place of The Pen 2010

  • The two thick folders were flagged Cosmic, and had linking cryptonyms -

    Final Resting Place of The Pen 2010

  • The team spoke quite openly of the cryptonyms, as though they knew every move, each meeting, and the planning details on an almost day-to-day basis.

    Final Resting Place of The Pen 2010

  • The caller identified himself - all sensitive personnel were equipped with both cryptonyms and street-names.

    Final Resting Place of The Pen 2010

  • When the VENONA project was finally ended in 1980 many thousands of cables collected during the 1930s and 1940s were still unread, and slightly more than half of the 349 persons given cryptonyms by the KGB remained unknown.

    The Plot Thickens Powers, Thomas 2000

  • It was also about the extraordinary success of the Soviets in penetrating America's government; we know a lot about it now that we didn't know at the time, and we should get on with figuring out why things unfolded as they did before the Russians further thicken the stew by telling us who was hiding behind the other half of those 349 cryptonyms.

    The Plot Thickens Powers, Thomas 2000

  • At the same time, counterintelligence professionals knew McCarthy was thrashing around in the dark, but many of them also knew directly or through the grapevine that the FBI was in fact trying to identify hundreds of cryptonyms.

    The Plot Thickens Powers, Thomas 2000

  • The cryptonyms of some Soviet spies appear dozens of times in the VENONA traffic, but not so with Hiss.

    The Plot Thickens Powers, Thomas 2000

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