/kloʊn/, /kləʊn/
OriginCoined (in botany) in 1903, based on Ancient Greek κλών (klṓn, “twig”). Figurative use from the 1970s.
- 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.”
- A group of identical cells derived from a single cell.
- A copy or imitation of something already existing, especially when designed to simulate it.
“The computer manufacturer produced IBM PC clones in the 1990s.”
- informalA person who is exactly like or very similar to another person, in terms of looks or behavior.
“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”
- slangA Castro clone.
“Some of me is clone, but a good part of me is still disco.”
“By mid-1983, I had grown weary of reading literature by white gay men who fell, quite easily, into three camps: the incestuous literati of Manhattan and Fire Island, the San Francisco cropped-mustache”
“these are cultural categories. they change over time. new ones appear (the Leatherman is recent, the Bear very recent), old ones vanish (though individual aunties and clones are still to be found - ar”
- transitiveTo create a clone of.
“The scientists were able to clone a sheep.”
“We cloned the database to perform some testing.”
Formsclones(plural) · clones(present, singular, third-person) · cloning(participle, present) · cloned(participle, past) · cloned(past)