copy
♦♦ copy /k'ɒpi/ (copies copying copied)
1 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
If you make a copy of something, you produce something that looks like the original thing.
The reporter apparently obtained a copy of Steve's resignation letter...
= duplicate
2 [VERB] V n, V n, V n from n
If you copy something, you produce something that looks like the original thing.
She never participated in obtaining or copying any classified documents for anyone.
...top designers, whose work has been widely copied...
He copied the chart from a book.
3 [VERB] V n, V n into n, V from n
If you copy a piece of writing, you write it again exactly.
He would allow John slyly to copy his answers to impossibly difficult algebra questions...
He copied the data into a notebook...
We're copying from textbooks because we don't have enough to go round.
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
Copy out means the same as copy.
He wrote the title on the blackboard, then copied out the text sentence by sentence...
`Did he leave a phone number?'--`Oh, yes.' She copied it out for him.
4 [VERB] V n, V n from n
If you copy a person or what they do, you try to do what they do or try to be like them, usually because you admire them or what they have done.
Children can be seen to copy the behaviour of others whom they admire or identify with...
...the coquettish gestures she had copied from actresses in soap operas.
= imitate
● copying [N-UNCOUNT]
Children learn by copying.
5 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A copy of a book, newspaper, or CD is one of many that are exactly the same.
I bought a copy of `USA Today' from a street-corner machine...
You can obtain a copy for $2 from New York Central Art Supply.
6 [N-UNCOUNT]
In journalism, copy is written material that is ready to be printed or read in a broadcast. (TECHNICAL)
...his ability to write the most lyrical copy in the history of sports television.
...advertising copy.
7 [N-UNCOUNT]
In journalism, copy is news or information that can be used in an article in a newspaper. (TECHNICAL)
...journalists looking for good copy.
8
see also back copy, carbon copy, back copy (back copies)
[N-COUNT]
A back copy of a magazine or newspaper is the same as a back issue.car|bon copy (carbon copies)
1 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
If you say that one person or thing is a carbon copy of another, you mean that they look or behave exactly like them.
She's a carbon copy of her mother...
2 [N-COUNT]
A carbon copy is a copy of a piece of writing that is made using carbon paper.hard copy (hard copies)
[N-VAR]
A hard copy of a document is a printed version of it, rather than a version that is stored on a computer.
...eight pages of hard copy.
1 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
If you make a copy of something, you produce something that looks like the original thing.
The reporter apparently obtained a copy of Steve's resignation letter...
= duplicate
2 [VERB] V n, V n, V n from n
If you copy something, you produce something that looks like the original thing.
She never participated in obtaining or copying any classified documents for anyone.
...top designers, whose work has been widely copied...
He copied the chart from a book.
3 [VERB] V n, V n into n, V from n
If you copy a piece of writing, you write it again exactly.
He would allow John slyly to copy his answers to impossibly difficult algebra questions...
He copied the data into a notebook...
We're copying from textbooks because we don't have enough to go round.
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
Copy out means the same as copy.
He wrote the title on the blackboard, then copied out the text sentence by sentence...
`Did he leave a phone number?'--`Oh, yes.' She copied it out for him.
4 [VERB] V n, V n from n
If you copy a person or what they do, you try to do what they do or try to be like them, usually because you admire them or what they have done.
Children can be seen to copy the behaviour of others whom they admire or identify with...
...the coquettish gestures she had copied from actresses in soap operas.
= imitate
● copying [N-UNCOUNT]
Children learn by copying.
5 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A copy of a book, newspaper, or CD is one of many that are exactly the same.
I bought a copy of `USA Today' from a street-corner machine...
You can obtain a copy for $2 from New York Central Art Supply.
6 [N-UNCOUNT]
In journalism, copy is written material that is ready to be printed or read in a broadcast. (TECHNICAL)
...his ability to write the most lyrical copy in the history of sports television.
...advertising copy.
7 [N-UNCOUNT]
In journalism, copy is news or information that can be used in an article in a newspaper. (TECHNICAL)
...journalists looking for good copy.
8
see also back copy, carbon copy, back copy (back copies)
[N-COUNT]
A back copy of a magazine or newspaper is the same as a back issue.car|bon copy (carbon copies)
1 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
If you say that one person or thing is a carbon copy of another, you mean that they look or behave exactly like them.
She's a carbon copy of her mother...
2 [N-COUNT]
A carbon copy is a copy of a piece of writing that is made using carbon paper.hard copy (hard copies)
[N-VAR]
A hard copy of a document is a printed version of it, rather than a version that is stored on a computer.
...eight pages of hard copy.