clone

1 of 2

noun

ˈklōn

: the aggregate of genetically identical cells or organisms asexually produced by or from a single progenitor cell or organism

: an individual grown from a single somatic cell or cell nucleus and genetically identical to it

: a group of replicas of all or part of a macromolecule and especially DNA

clones of identical recombinant DNA sequences

: one that appears to be a copy of an original form : duplicate

a clone of a personal computer

clonal

ˈklō-nᵊl

adjective

clonally

ˈklō-nə-lē

adverb

clone

2 of 2

verb

cloned; cloning

transitive verb

: to propagate a clone from

: to make a copy of

intransitive verb

: to produce a clone

cloner

ˈklō-nər

noun

Did you know?

Cloning is the production of a population of genetically identical cells or of organisms asexually produced by a single cell or organism. Cloning is fundamental to most living things, since the body cells of plants and animals are clones that come from a single fertilized egg. More narrowly, the term refers to an individual organism grown from a single body cell of its parent that is genetically identical to the parent. Cloning has been commonplace in horticulture since ancient times — many varieties of plants are cloned simply by obtaining cuttings of their leaves, stems, or roots and replanting them. The body cells of adult humans and other animals are routinely cultured as clones in the laboratory. British researchers achieved the first success in cloning an adult mammal in 1996. They produced a lamb, which they named Dolly, using DNA from an adult sheep.

Example Sentences

Noun the clone of an adult female sheep the car is a clone under a different brand name—it's even manufactured in the same plant as its cousin Verb Do you think scientists should clone humans? a plant produced by cloning

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Bad Batch revolves around a group of defective clone troopers, many of whom resisted Order 66, Palpatine's command to kill the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith, and who have gone off on their own following the collapse of the Republic. —

Brendan Morrow, The Week, 4 Jan. 2023 In January, Disney Plus will debut the second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which follows a squad of elite clone troopers in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. —

Jacob Siegal, BGR, 28 Dec. 2022 Obi-Wan learns of his former apprentice’s defection after Palpatine issues Order 66, which causes the clone troopers to turn on the Jedi to wipe them out. —

Tracy Brownstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022 The clone only lived for a few minutes and died because of a lung defect. —

Theara Coleman, The Week, 22 Feb. 2023 For example, Baidu BIDU +3.1% (NASDAQ: BIDU IDU +0.2%) has developed a tool called Deep Voice that uses AI to clone voices in a matter of seconds. —

Randy Watts, Forbes, 26 Jan. 2023 Now, a year later, the word-guessing game is still popular enough that blatant Wordle clone Quordle has been purchased by dictionary-maker Merriam-Webster. —

Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2023 James Robl and Steven Stice were the first to clone cows from fetal cells in which human genes were spliced into cattle DNA. —

Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2023 Richet intercuts the gunplay with perfunctory scenes at airline HQ, his own version of the stock, shouting-match, cops-on-the-outside material from a Die Hard clone. —

A.a. Dowd, Chron, 11 Jan. 2023

Verb

Set in the 22nd century, the fate of a civil war hinges on a researcher's ability to clone her soldier mother's brain. —

Stacey Grant, Seventeen, 30 Jan. 2023 Researchers may be able to clone one of her skin or blood cells, and eventually make an egglike cell that has a single DNA strand, rather than a double strand. —

Karen Weintraub, Discover Magazine, 29 Apr. 2019 These tests cannot be used to clone humans, experts said. —

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2022 In the 1980s, molecular biologist Allan Wilson of Berkeley managed to clone gene fragments from the 140-year-old pelt of a quagga, an extinct brown-and-white-striped relative of the zebra. —

Discover Magazine, 27 Feb. 2015 The firm had previously been hired by a California woman who paid them $150,000 to clone her beloved dead pit pull, Booger. —

Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 4 Feb. 2011 Some social media users are claiming these tests can clone humans, too. —

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2022 Women from nearby villages have been trained to clone the trees and prune and tend to the precious cutlings, wearing straw hats to guard against the hot sun. —

John Schmid, jsonline.com, 2 Nov. 2022 Over the course of the next two weeks, Newland repeated this process three times, using DNA sequencing to count and clone some 1,200 of Friede’s antibodies that had stuck to the venom. —

Kyle Dickman, Outside Online, 16 May 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'clone.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.