copying

present participle of copy
1
as in reproducing
to make an exact likeness of for the movie, set designers copied the Oval Office in the White House down to the smallest detail

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2
as in imitating
to use (someone or something) as the model for one's speech, mannerisms, or behavior she shamelessly copies her idol's hairstyle and fashion choices

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of copying But these genes still get copied every time the bacterium divides, and copying DNA costs energy. — Canan Karakoç, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026 People swivel-chair between them, copying information from emails, clicking through numerous interfaces and other tools. — Bryan Goode, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026 By copying themselves instead of cutting, retrotransposons can easily flood a genome with many iterations of themselves. — Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026 After removing the video that essentially accused Jones Road of copying YISE without outright identifying Bobbi Brown's brand, Molly Sims has posted a brief update to her Instagram Stories. — Marci Robin, Allure, 21 Sep. 2026 In response to Space Pioneer’s engine design, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said copying Raptor 3 would not be easy. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2026 Prescriptions are not always as simple as copying one number into a box. — Emma Clapp, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026 But installing a new system isn’t just copying and pasting a playbook; constant tweaks and adjustments are needed, especially when defenses start throwing curveballs. — Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026 Don't start sending aggressive emails or copying numerous people on every message. — William Phillips, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for copying
Verb
  • Meanwhile several experts, independent of Schrottenloher, had launched an initiative aimed at reproducing Google’s result.
    — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Its job is to go beyond producing a serviceable picture by interpreting and reproducing content.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 16 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The league immediately decided Juszczyk was imitating drinking beer.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Rather than taking advantage of genuine quantum effects, Scholes proposes, life might be imitating them instead.
    — Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 23 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • By updating the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive to blacklist specific misleading marketing tactics, however, EmpCo could lighten the load for watchdog groups by rendering once-routine declarations off-limits.
    — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The movie is fantastic, a true thriller, and while some liberties were taken with the depiction of outer space, the basic premise of a cascading series of collisions rendering orbits too cluttered with debris to be usable is valid.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • AeroSHARK achieves a similar effect by emulating nature's design.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Any remote hopes of the tourists making any sort of comeback and perhaps emulating Sri Lanka, another weak side, in 2024 by winning the final Test after losing the series in England were thrown out of the window by their own board.
    — Paul Newman, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The stations are standardised, so capacity is added by replicating them, and this line is the blueprint for future local for local expansion, as per the release.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2026
  • My learning is more about understanding the mechanics of performance, the how, rather than replicating the why behind human emotions.
    — Corbin Bolies, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Instead of splintering, the waves naturally organize themselves into repeating geometric loops.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
  • History was now repeating itself in the United States, Kristofcak thought.
    — Eyal Press, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The country plans to expand LNG capacity from 77 million tons per year to 142 million by 2030, and duplicating that infrastructure isn’t feasible.
    — Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • That does not mean flexibility everywhere; duplicating every workload across clouds usually costs more than the option is worth.
    — Dr. Aditya Vikram Kashyap, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Copying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/copying. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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