self-replicating
Americanadjective
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reproducing itself by its own power or inherent nature.
self-replicating organisms.
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Genetics. making an exact copy or copies of itself, as a strand of DNA.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-replicating
First recorded in 1955–60
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.
It goes on, and on, and on, self-replicating in the infinite scroll.
From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026
Curiously, of the 4.9 billion reactions generated, only hundreds of reaction cycles could be called "self-replicating," which means that the molecules produce additional copies of themselves.
From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2024
This implies that self-replicating probes could reach ten billion habitable planets around Sun-like stars in less than a billion years.
From Salon • Oct. 9, 2022
Faced with a world full of self-replicating problems, such as the novel coronavirus and forest fires, Kriegman said studying xenobots could lead scientists closer to solutions.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 2, 2021
The chloroplasts in all plants are, similarly, independent and self-replicating lodgers, with their own DNA and RNA and ribosomes.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
