mock-up
Americannoun
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mock-ups
plural
noun
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a working full-scale model of a machine, apparatus, etc, for testing, research, etc
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a layout of printed matter
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mock-up
First recorded in 1915–20; noun use of verb phrase mock up
Explanation
A mock-up is a smaller model or replica of something that will eventually be built or that's used for teaching. When an engineer designs a new kind of airplane, she'll first make a mock-up. A mock-up can be a prototype, or a first version of something that will be improved upon before the final version is constructed. Another kind of mock-up is a page of a newspaper or magazine that's laid out so it can be rearranged and perfected before the finished publication is printed. Some mock-ups are full size, but made of cheaper materials than the final product will use — a furniture maker might use this method.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This didn’t stop him from proudly sharing an A.I.-generated mock-up of Space Force uniforms to Truth Social over the weekend.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
That purported healing is taking place at “Free Spirits Wellness Center,” a mock-up clinic led by Sting dedicated to advance physiological and cognitive expansion for people working under intense pressure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
As part of renewed efforts to solve this case, police have released mock-up facial images showing how the man may have looked aged in his 50s, 60s and 70s.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2026
Tenev created a mock-up of what the accounts on his app might look like, and posted on X that the platform was “ready to go.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
The corps first built a mock-up of the tunnel, several hundred feet long, in the Nevada desert.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Over the weekend he posted apparent architectural mock-ups of Corinthian columns replete with lions' heads, on the White House.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Kilroy can instantly swap finishes and toggle between rug patterns, eliminating the hours once required for manual mock-ups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Khalife made some amateurish mock-ups of secret documents which he sent to Ghasghavi to win the Iranians’ trust and slowly built a relationship with them.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2024
Pavone raised a bit of money by winning competitions at her school with mock-ups of her convertible shoe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024
Star City contains full-size mock-ups of spacecraft, a hydro-laboratory large enough for a 20-ton space module, special aircraft that simulate weightlessness, two centrifuges, and a planetarium with the capacity to show 9,000 stars.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
