duplex

[ doo-pleks, dyoo- ]

/ ˈdu plɛks, ˈdyu- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR duplex ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

duplex apartment.

duplex house.

paper or cardboard having different colors, finishes, or stocks on opposite sides.

Printing.

a method of reproducing an illustration using two halftone plates, one black and the other in a color.
a printing press equipped to print both sides of a sheet in one pass.

Genetics. a double-stranded region of DNA.

adjective

having two parts; double; twofold.

(of a machine) having two identical working units, operating together or independently, in a single framework or assembly.

pertaining to or noting a telecommunications system, as most telephone systems, permitting the simultaneous transmission of two messages in opposite directions over one channel.

verb (used with object)

to make duplex; make or change into a duplex: Many owners are duplexing their old houses for extra income.

RELATED WORDS

double, twin

Nearby words

duple rhythm, duple time, dupleix, duplessis-mornay, duplet, duplex, duplex apartment, duplex chain, duplex house, duplex kidney, duplex lock

Origin of duplex

1810–20; < Latin: twofold, double, equivalent to du(o) two + -plex -plex

Related forms

du·plex·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for duplex

The Duplex Drive (called DD) was one: an amphibious conversion which could be fitted to a normal Sherman tank.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day|James Jones|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
(Although Roberts also owns a duplex in Dodge City, he rents that out and does not live there).
There's No Place Like Home For Kansas Senator Pat Roberts|Ben Jacobs|May 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now it is still warm, close to eighty degrees, as Oswald walks quickly away from the duplex.
The Man Oswald First Tried to Kill Before JFK|Bill Minutaglio, Steven L. Davis|October 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Convince your mistress living in the duplex on South Beach to leave the shades pulled—and to limit the bling.
Africa's WikiLeaks|Philip Shenon|August 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST

There are only 12 guest rooms and five duplex suites, so book early.
Gal With a Suitcase|Jolie Hunt|November 21, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The duplex for aeronautical motors is made of cast aluminum alloy.
Aviation Engines|Victor Wilfred Pag
Duplex est humilitas: una lucida solum et non fervida: qu ex ratione potius quam ex charitate exercetur.
A Christian Directory (Volume 1 of 4)|Richard Baxter
Early Christian rings of silver are unusual; that now represented is of duplex form.
Finger-Ring Lore|William Jones
The next step in advance was the "dead-beat escapement," which included the cylinder and duplex.
Watch and Clock Escapements|Anonymous
Social progress is for the most part typified by this duplex or polar action.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2|John Tyndall

British Dictionary definitions for duplex

duplex

/ (ˈdjuːplɛks) /

noun

US and Canadian a duplex apartment or house

a double-stranded region in a nucleic acid molecule

adjective

having two parts

machinery having pairs of components of independent but identical function

permitting the transmission of simultaneous signals in both directions in a radio, telecommunications, or computer channel

Derived Forms

duplexity, noun

Word Origin for duplex

C19: from Latin: twofold, from duo two + -plex -fold

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012