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# mimicry

«mimicry» in Mova's school dictionary: **copying the way someone talks, moves or behaves, often to…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (mimicry, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Mimicry is copying the way someone talks, moves or behaves, often to make people laugh. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#m1)

2) (science) Mimicry is when a living thing looks or sounds like another thing to protect itself or to trick others, like a harmless hoverfly that looks like a wasp. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons on adaptation, mimicry helps animals survive: hoverflies copy wasp stripes, some caterpillars look like snakes, the lyrebird copies chainsaws and camera clicks, stick insects look like twigs (that is camouflage, a close idea). In drama and everyday life, mimicry is doing impressions of people; making fun of someone in a hurtful way is unkind. Phrases: «a talent for mimicry», «vocal mimicry», «animal mimicry».

### examples

- The hoverfly's stripes are an example of mimicry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#x1)
- Parrots are famous for their mimicry of human speech. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#x2)
- The lyrebird's mimicry can copy a car alarm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#x3)
- His mimicry of the head teacher made the class giggle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#x4)
- Mimicry helps harmless animals look dangerous. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#x5)
- Some orchids use mimicry to look like bees. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/#x6)

### note

Uncountable. Verb: «mimic, mimics, mimicked, mimicking» (add k before -ed and -ing). Mimicry (looking like another animal) is not the same as camouflage (blending into the background), though both help animals hide or survive.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mimicry» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mimicry/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.