From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
cypher
n 1: a mathematical element that when added to another number
yields the same number [syn: zero, 0, nought,
cipher, cypher]
2: 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, null, aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg,
naught, zero, zilch, zip, zippo]
3: a person of no influence [syn: cipher, cypher, nobody,
nonentity]
4: a secret method of writing [syn: cipher, cypher,
cryptograph, secret code]
5: a message written in a secret code [syn: cipher, cypher]
v 1: convert ordinary language into code; "We should encode the
message for security reasons" [syn: code, encipher,
cipher, cypher, encrypt, inscribe, write in code]
2: make a mathematical calculation or computation [syn:
calculate, cipher, cypher, compute, work out,
reckon, figure]