Definition of "clone" []

• A cell, group of cells, or organism that is descended from and genetically identical to a single common ancestor, such as a bacterial colony whose members arose from a single original cell. (noun)
• An organism descended asexually from a single ancestor, such as a plant produced by layering or a polyp produced by budding. (noun)
• A DNA sequence, such as a gene, that is transferred from one organism to another and replicated by genetic engineering techniques. (noun)
• One that copies or closely resembles another, as in appearance or function: "filled with business-school clones in gray and blue suits” ( Michael M. Thomas). (noun)
• To make multiple identical copies of (a DNA sequence). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Biologists use the term clone to describe cells that share a common genetic ancestor."
• "And Digg as a community continuously slanders anything that is a digg competitor (using the term clone, instead of ‘inspired by’)."
• "But enlisting Ms. Yingluck as what he describes as his "clone" seems to be a masterstroke, analysts say."