Clone
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A living organism (originally a plant) produced asexually from a single ancestor, to which it is genetically identical.
"This new species is a clone of the mimosa plant."
- 2 an unauthorized copy or imitation wordnet
- 3 A group of identical cells derived from a single cell.
- 4 a group of genetically identical cells or organisms derived from a single cell or individual by some kind of asexual reproduction wordnet
- 5 A copy or imitation of something already existing, especially when designed to simulate it.
"The computer manufacturer produced IBM PC clones in the 1990s."
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- 6 a person who is almost identical to another wordnet
- 7 A person who is exactly like or very similar to another person, in terms of looks or behavior. informal
"Once, on a confident whim, I approached the group of popular girls in an attempt to broaden my circle. Their ringleader took one glance at my new Aeropostale T-shirt and whispered to her clones, “Yeah, Aero's definitely out now.”"
- 8 A Castro clone. slang
"Some of me is clone, but a good part of me is still disco."
- 1 To create a clone of. transitive
"The scientists were able to clone a sheep."
- 2 make multiple identical copies of wordnet
Example
More examples"Living in a colony on Titan, Tomas' grandson was a clone of his son, who was a clone of himself, Tomas. They were three generations of clones."
Etymology
Coined (in botany) in 1903, based on Ancient Greek κλών (klṓn, “twig”). Figurative use from the 1970s.
Related phrases
More for "clone"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.