replicate
Americanadjective
verb (used with object)
-
replicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
replicated,
past participle, past
-
replicating
present participle
-
to bend or fold back.
a replicated leaf.
-
to repeat, duplicate, or reproduce, especially for experimental purposes.
We were unable to replicate the same results in the field.
-
Genetics. (of a cell) to make a copy of (its DNA).
The cell replicates its DNA to begin the process of cell division.
verb (used without object)
-
replicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
replicated,
past participle, past
-
replicating
present participle
noun
verb
-
(also intr) to make or be a copy of; reproduce
-
to fold (something) over on itself; bend back
-
to reply to
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
replicatesimple
-
replicatessimple
-
have replicatedperfect
-
has replicatedperfect
-
am replicatingprogressive
-
are replicatingprogressive
-
is replicatingprogressive
-
have been replicatingperfect progressive
-
has been replicatingperfect progressive
Past
-
replicatedsimple
-
had replicatedperfect
-
was replicatingprogressive
-
were replicatingprogressive
-
had been replicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of replicate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Late Latin replicātus, past participle of replicāre “to fold back”; see re-, ply 2, -ate 1
Explanation
Did you just figure out how to make that excellent pizza you had in Philadelphia? Then what you’ve done is replicate it, meaning you’ve been able to reproduce it. The word replicate carries different shades of meaning, but it generally involves repeating something. Students of biology will know that the word is often used to indicate that an exact duplicate has been made, such as chromosomes that replicate themselves. It can also be used in an unscientific sense to mean that something has been done again to match or repeat an earlier outcome, such as a political group that works to replicate a successful campaign.
Vocabulary lists containing replicate
NAEP Test Words
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Florida EOC Biology 1
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The Bluest Eye
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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:
Parallax founder and CEO Carl Schoeller said the idea isn’t to attempt to replicate the highly efficient turbines that major manufacturers build.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
"I'm speaking from a point of view where I feel like we are trying to replicate Spain," Gordon said.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
He said the company would instead invest in journalism that “is differentiated, consequential and difficult to replicate; reporting rooted in our communities and strengthened by sources, investigation, verification, context and judgment.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
ETFs in this category typically replicate an autocallable-like payoff using swaps, rather than holding the notes directly.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
“These people by and large did not know anything about how to do the trade and expected Goldman to help them replicate it,” Burry wrote in an e-mail to his CFO.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
His ability to occupy those positions - with strong defending and elegance on the ball - replicates some of the work Stones did for City.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
This dishonesty spoils the story and replicates the Bundists’ ideological vanity, minus their heroism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Coffin replicates Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 “The Great Train Robbery,” often considered one of the first films that used editing for storytelling — and one of the first action movies ever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
England boss Thomas Tuchel has put an emphasis on wanting to play football that replicates the style that is played in the Premier League.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
But no one ever replicates those prescribed lengths perfectly.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
But it’s a far better analogy for how viewers rallied behind the show, making Hansen and his questionable methods a sensation that could be replicated after their mutual cancellation.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
Through her multi-club ownership model, which already spans England, France and the United States, she wants the standards being established at London City to be replicated across the globe.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
It was a staggeringly disruptive way of doing business which, more than 50 years later, has been replicated across much of the industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“These are assets with qualities that cannot be replicated by technology,” the homepage reads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
But Petit together with Pascal replicated the Torricellian experiment independently, and Valerio Magni in Warsaw either replicated it in 1647 or reinvented it.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Guerra calls the Galleria Prada’s “epicenter of epicenters,” and the brand is replicating the concept in 25 of the world’s biggest luxury capitals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
But replicating the Lagos model across the whole country will take time.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
By replicating the action of this hormone, GLP-1 drugs have proven highly effective at managing type 2 diabetes and promoting weight loss.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
He has issued numerous written statements on policy matters but is far from replicating the one-man rule of his father.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Cancer, perhaps, is an ultimate perversion of genetics—a genome that becomes pathologically obsessed with replicating itself.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
