clone

noun

\ ˈklōn

Definition of clone

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the aggregate of genetically identical cells or organisms asexually produced by or from a single progenitor cell or organism

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

c : a group of replicas of all or part of a macromolecule and especially DNA clones of identical recombinant DNA sequences

2 : one that appears to be a copy of an original form : duplicate a clone of a personal computer

clone

verb

cloned; cloning

Definition of clone (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to propagate a clone from

2 : to make a copy of

intransitive verb

: to produce a clone

Other Words from clone Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about clone

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Other Words from clone

Noun

clonal \ ˈklō-nᵊl

\ adjective

clonally \ ˈklō-nə-lē

\ adverb

Verb

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.

Examples of clone in a Sentence

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 story was actually about a Chinese company that created a cat clone. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Some things may be best kept out of fridge," 8 Sep. 2019 But the phone received poor reviews and was criticized for being a bad Android clone and having too few apps. — Sherisse Pham, CNN, "Huawei's Android rival is trying to succeed where Samsung and Microsoft failed," 14 Aug. 2019 Wong-Staal was the first to clone HIV, proving that HIV is the cause of AIDS. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "32 Women Who’ve Changed Life As We Know It," 31 Mar. 2019 And though the film's story did matter in some senses—there were pint-sized human clones, and U.S. Senate hearings attended by one Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum)—Fallen Kingdom really came down to two shots. — Isaac Feldberg, Fortune, "How the ‘Battle at Big Rock’ Short Film Sets Up a Smarter, Scarier ‘Jurassic World 3’," 16 Sep. 2019 Our only daughter, who is due to marry a very decent guy, is a perfect clone of my wife. — Amy Dickinson, The Mercury News, "Ask Amy: If he marries my daughter, his life will be hell. Should I warn him?," 10 Sep. 2019 Our only daughter, who is due to marry a very decent guy, is a perfect clone of my wife. — Amy Dickinson, The Denver Post, "Ask Amy: Father-in-law wants to issue premarital warning," 10 Sep. 2019 That’s because the banana is based on a single genetic clone, producing a worldwide monoculture extremely vulnerable to epidemics. — Natasha Frost, Quartz, "A deadly fungus could wipe out the world’s favorite banana—again," 20 Aug. 2019 There have been three different plantings of three different species of hemp at the Chandler Mountain farm, procured as clones, or small seedlings, from farmers in Tennessee. — al, "First legal hemp crop growing well, near harvest, farmers report," 7 Aug. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

This is what happens to art under capitalism; success is cloned until the market shifts and something new worms its way into the zeitgeist. — Adam Wilson, Harper's magazine, "Good Bad Bad Good," 16 Sep. 2019 Trees can clone themselves into 80,000-year-old superorganisms. — Ellie Shechet, New York Times, "Do Plants Have Something to Say?," 28 Aug. 2019 Those involved with the science around cloning agree. — Karen Weintraub, Discover Magazine, "Cloning's Long Legacy — And Why It'll Never Be Used on Humans," 29 Apr. 2019 But then Huang read about a company that clones pets. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Some things may be best kept out of fridge," 8 Sep. 2019 At a nearby lab bench, Anthony Kushta, an intern and aspiring cardiologist, monitored the livelihood of cells that eventually will be harvested and cloned to mimic the outer surface of the HIV virus. — Alison Kuznitz, BostonGlobe.com, "Science in their DNA: Internship at Harvard affiliate inspires high school students," 21 Aug. 2019 Tech companies have accused Bytedance of cloning American innovations. — Yoko Kubota, WSJ, "TikTok’s Videos Are Goofy. Its Strategy to Dominate Social Media Is Serious.," 29 June 2019 And so, at the beginning, their actions were to delay: Mark sending his emails, designing his models, imagining having Kelly cloned. — Kent Babb / Washington Post, Twin Cities, "MN native and olympic cyclist Kelly Catlin could do it all — until it all became too much," 29 July 2019 Early on, cartel members cloned other people’s phone numbers to make calls. — Nicole Hong, WSJ, "What El Chapo’s Trial Revealed: The Inner Workings of a $14 Billion Drug Empire," 12 Feb. 2019

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.