mock-up

American  

[mok-uhp] / ˈmɒkˌʌp /

Or mockup

noun

• mock-ups
  plural

1. a model, often full-size, for study, testing, or teaching.

   a mock-up of an experimental aircraft.

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mock-up British  

noun

1. a working full-scale model of a machine, apparatus, etc, for testing, research, etc

2. a layout of printed matter

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verb

1. (tr, adverb) to build or make a mock-up of

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mock-ups
  plural

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

See Examples For:

mock-up mock-ups

Jobs brought his trademark product-development focus to Apple’s retail stores, joining Mr. Johnson for regular drives to a warehouse in which a secret mock-up of an Apple store would regularly be revised.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

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

I went through several rounds of editing to get the mock-up just right.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 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

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

There were even mock-ups of unforgettable Macintosh icons like Trash, Bomb and Happy Mac.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

The center was also designing and testing mock-ups of a lunar lander, which Armstrong — now the center’s namesake — later used to practice landing on the moon while still here on Earth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026

Since Monday night, mock-ups and memes of Victoria's supposed wedding dance have been flooding the internet.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

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

Related Words

• copy
• figure
• image
• painting
• photograph
• picture
• portrait