du·pli·cate
ˈdü-pli-kət 
also ˈdyü-
1
: consisting of or existing in two corresponding or identical parts or examples
duplicate invoices
2
: being the same as another
duplicate copies
du·pli·cate
ˈdü-pli-ˌkāt
also ˈdyü-
duplicated; duplicating
1
: to make double or twofold
2
a
: to make a copy of
a cell duplicates itself when it divides
b
: to produce something equal to
trying to duplicate last year's success
c
: to do over or again often needlessly
duplicated effort
: to become duplicated
also
: repeat
du·pli·cate
ˈdü-pli-kət
also ˈdyü-
1
a
: either of two things exactly alike and usually produced at the same time or by the same process
b
: an additional copy of something (such as a book or stamp) already in a collection
2
: one that resembles or corresponds to another : counterpart
3
: two identical copies
—used in the phrase in duplicate
Synonyms
Adjective
Verb
Noun
Examples of duplicate in a Sentence
Adjective
I began receiving duplicate copies of the magazine every month.
I had a duplicate key made.
Verb
She duplicated the video to give to family and friends.
Unfortunately, the results of the first study could not be duplicated.
Noun
In case you lose your keys, keep a set of duplicates somewhere safe.
doll carriages that are duplicates of baby carriages
Recent Examples on the Web
Shashank Agarwal, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
This led to an accumulation of countless duplicate ingredients that never fully got used up.
—Anna Luisa Rodriguez, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
Indeed, the outcome proved surprising to observers who wondered how the recall organizers had let so many invalid or duplicate signatures slip through the cracks.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024
Seed propagation does not produce a duplicate plant—this can only occur from cuttings.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2024
About Harris Data Integrity Solutions Harris Data Integrity Solutions delivers industry-leading data integrity services and software to reduce duplicate medical records and minimize the ongoing cost of maintaining quality patient data.
—Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024
However, be aware that platforms use machine learning algorithms to detect duplicate content.
—Xinyue 'coco' Chen, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Despite Milwaukee's efforts to eliminate duplicate street names, the Laytons aren't the only repeaters on city maps.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2024
With a dual tape deck recorder, a duplicate copy of any cassette can be copied onto a blank tape, allowing for commercial recordings to be easily shared and bootlegged.
—John Morrison, SPIN, 13 Feb. 2024
Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 22 Mar. 2024
As a protective measure, companies break up production stages, or duplicate them, and put them in different locations.
—David L. Stern, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
Blockchain Consensus Models In the realm of blockchain, algorithmic consensus models create agreement on the validity of transactions, duplicating records on every ledger and preventing fraudulent activities.
—Sindhu Bhaskar, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
Lara has also accused the organization of raising unrelated issues and duplicating the department’s arguments about a rate change.
—Stephen Hobbs, Sacramento Bee, 12 Feb. 2024
In 2021, the state agreed to a settlement of $577 million with its four HBCUs as a result of allowing nearby predominantly white institutions to duplicate degree programs and putting the HBCUs at a disadvantage when competing for students and resources.
—Lilly Price, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024
But nothing compares to the Loyola-Mira Costa match when communities come together and the players rise or fall with an emotional connection that can’t be duplicated.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2024
But that performance -- for Battle as well as the Razorbacks -- has been a challenge to duplicate with any degree of consistency.
—Bob Holt, arkansasonline.com, 20 Feb. 2024
Even with new manager Craig Counsell, the Little Bears could have trouble duplicating last year’s 83-79 record – or reaching the playoffs.
6.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024
Matt Heckel, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said in a statement that ERIC has helped remove more than 130,000 duplicate records and registrations for voters who had moved to another state.
—Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2024
County law requires them to collect slightly more than 73,000 valid signatures, though campaign experts generally suggest turning in far more signatures to account for duplicates and other signature-gathering errors.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 2 Feb. 2024
The plot is more or less the same: A Bay Area health inspector discovers humans are being replaced by alien duplicates that possess none of the pesky emotions that make life lovely and unbearable.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023
His staff now must begin validating the signatures by weeding out duplicates and ensuring that each one belongs to a registered voter living in Alameda County.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2024
The lists are dotted with petty duplicates submitted by neighbors, often with slightly different spellings.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2024
There are Reddit threads explaining how to knit D.I.Y. versions, while knockoffs are sold by AliExpress, a Chinese e-commerce site known for selling counterfeit goods, as well as by street vendors in New York that some may associate more with cheap pashminas than with luxury-good duplicates.
—Misty White Sidell, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024
The facilitator needs to group similar ideas and remove duplicates while retaining all substantive contributions to streamline the brainstorming process.
—Gleb Tsipursky, Fortune, 3 Jan. 2024
Adjective
Most providers today want to forward claim applications as quickly as possible but this effort could easily lead their staffers to make errors such as filing duplicate claims for the same patient, entering incorrect insurance ID numbers, or providing incomplete patient information.
—Shashank Agarwal, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
This led to an accumulation of countless duplicate ingredients that never fully got used up.
—Anna Luisa Rodriguez, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
Indeed, the outcome proved surprising to observers who wondered how the recall organizers had let so many invalid or duplicate signatures slip through the cracks.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024
Seed propagation does not produce a duplicate plant—this can only occur from cuttings.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2024
About Harris Data Integrity Solutions Harris Data Integrity Solutions delivers industry-leading data integrity services and software to reduce duplicate medical records and minimize the ongoing cost of maintaining quality patient data.
—Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024
However, be aware that platforms use machine learning algorithms to detect duplicate content.
—Xinyue 'coco' Chen, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Despite Milwaukee's efforts to eliminate duplicate street names, the Laytons aren't the only repeaters on city maps.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2024
With a dual tape deck recorder, a duplicate copy of any cassette can be copied onto a blank tape, allowing for commercial recordings to be easily shared and bootlegged.
—John Morrison, SPIN, 13 Feb. 2024
Verb
The research has duplicated the benefits of green lenses in countering Sharrah’s symptoms and found that manipulating colors in lenses helped others with PMO as well — although the colors that work might differ.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 22 Mar. 2024
As a protective measure, companies break up production stages, or duplicate them, and put them in different locations.
—David L. Stern, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
Blockchain Consensus Models In the realm of blockchain, algorithmic consensus models create agreement on the validity of transactions, duplicating records on every ledger and preventing fraudulent activities.
—Sindhu Bhaskar, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
Lara has also accused the organization of raising unrelated issues and duplicating the department’s arguments about a rate change.
—Stephen Hobbs, Sacramento Bee, 12 Feb. 2024
In 2021, the state agreed to a settlement of $577 million with its four HBCUs as a result of allowing nearby predominantly white institutions to duplicate degree programs and putting the HBCUs at a disadvantage when competing for students and resources.
—Lilly Price, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024
But nothing compares to the Loyola-Mira Costa match when communities come together and the players rise or fall with an emotional connection that can’t be duplicated.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2024
But that performance -- for Battle as well as the Razorbacks -- has been a challenge to duplicate with any degree of consistency.
—Bob Holt, arkansasonline.com, 20 Feb. 2024
Even with new manager Craig Counsell, the Little Bears could have trouble duplicating last year’s 83-79 record – or reaching the playoffs.
6.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
Noun
To be valid, each signature will need to belong to a registered voter in Alameda County, with no duplicates.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024
Matt Heckel, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said in a statement that ERIC has helped remove more than 130,000 duplicate records and registrations for voters who had moved to another state.
—Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2024
County law requires them to collect slightly more than 73,000 valid signatures, though campaign experts generally suggest turning in far more signatures to account for duplicates and other signature-gathering errors.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 2 Feb. 2024
The plot is more or less the same: A Bay Area health inspector discovers humans are being replaced by alien duplicates that possess none of the pesky emotions that make life lovely and unbearable.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023
His staff now must begin validating the signatures by weeding out duplicates and ensuring that each one belongs to a registered voter living in Alameda County.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2024
The lists are dotted with petty duplicates submitted by neighbors, often with slightly different spellings.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2024
There are Reddit threads explaining how to knit D.I.Y. versions, while knockoffs are sold by AliExpress, a Chinese e-commerce site known for selling counterfeit goods, as well as by street vendors in New York that some may associate more with cheap pashminas than with luxury-good duplicates.
—Misty White Sidell, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024
The facilitator needs to group similar ideas and remove duplicates while retaining all substantive contributions to streamline the brainstorming process.
—Gleb Tsipursky, Fortune, 3 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'duplicate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English, from Latin duplicatus, past participle of duplicare to double, from duplic-, duplex
First Known Use
Adjective
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Noun
1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of duplicate was
in the 15th century
Phrases Containing duplicate
Dictionary Entries Near duplicate
Cite this Entry
“Duplicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duplicate. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
duplicate
1 of 3 adjective
du·pli·cate
ˈd(y)ü-pli-kət
1
: having two parts exactly the same or alike
2
: being the same as another
duplicate
2 of 3 verb
du·pli·cate
ˈd(y)ü-pli-ˌkāt
duplicated; duplicating
1
: to make double
2
: to make a duplicate of
duplicate
3 of 3 nounˈd(y)ü-pli-kət
: a thing that is exactly like another
Medical Definition
duplicate
intransitive verb
du·pli·cate
ˈd(y)ü-pli-ˌkāt
duplicated; duplicating
: to become duplicate : replicate
DNA in chromosomes duplicates
Legal Definition
duplicate
1 of 2 transitive verb
du·pli·cate
ˈdü-pli-ˌkāt, ˈdyü-
duplicated; duplicating
: to make a duplicate of
duplicate
2 of 2 noun
du·pli·cate
ˈdü-pli-kət, ˈdyü-
: either of two things exactly alike and often produced at the same time
specifically
: a counterpart identified in the Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 1001 as produced by the same impression as the original or from the same matrix or by means of photography, mechanical, or electronic rerecording, chemical reproduction, or another technique which accurately reproduces the original compare original
More from Merriam-Webster on duplicate
Nglish: Translation of duplicate for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of duplicate for Arabic Speakers
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