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 →

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 →

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 →
• Parrots are famous for their mimicry of human speech. tree →
• The lyrebird's mimicry can copy a car alarm. tree →
• His mimicry of the head teacher made the class giggle. tree →
• Mimicry helps harmless animals look dangerous. tree →
• Some orchids use mimicry to look like bees. tree →

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, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.