1Imitate (someone or their actions or words), especially in order to entertain or ridicule.

1. 1.1 (of an animal or plant) resemble or imitate (another animal or plant) to deter predators or for camouflage.
   wild potatoes mimic an aphid alarm signal

   tiger beetles are mimicked by grasshoppers

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Weeds mimic plants, viruses trick the immune system, birds build nests and predators stalk - all engaging in strategies so successful that they look, but cannot possibly be, intentional.
   • The caterpillars, which mimic the larva of M. sabuleti, are carried into the nest by the workers, where they then feed on the ant larvae.
   • There is no denying that they are manipulative - they are famous for their ability to mimic moths, wasps and bees to cheat insects into having sex with them.
   • The supposedly sterile farm fish would mimic spawners, and pair up with fertile wildies, negating that year's reproductive cycle.
   • An Australian orchid uses pheromones mimicking a female wasp to attract male wasps - but not all of them are fooled.
   • Insects mimic twigs and flower parts, the sexual partners or foods of their prey, whatever is poisonous to those for whom they themselves are prey.
   • A variety of insects, including some beetles and moths, mimic bees and wasps.
   • The study suggests that Luna also mimicked other killer whales he occasionally came across.
   • The mimic finally stumbled upon a vacant hole and squeezed inside; in a last ditch effort at threat display, it extended two sinuous tentacles 180 degrees apart, mimicking a snake!
   • The ruse works so successfully that some 30 other non-venomous snakes have mimicked the coral snake and share similar color patterns.
   • The value of defenses such as spines or sticky hairs, the regurgitation of plant toxins on an enemy, and the ability to mimic a snake is easy to imagine.
   • The orchid Chiloglottis trapeziformis belongs to a group of about 300 species that lure pollinators by mimicking a female insect.
   • Thus, several kinds of king snakes mimic the venomous coral snake's distinctive pattern of alternating red, black, and yellow or white bands.
   • When mimicking a mantis shrimp, for example, the octopus sits in a burrow with only the eyes and part of the head exposed, and wraps one tentacle around its head to resemble the folded raptorial appendages of the mantis shrimp.
   • Flower extract and mandibular gland secretion both contained geraniol, nerol, and E, E-farnesol, indicating that the orchid mimics the bee's secretion.
   • It mimics birds, bats or pterodactyls of the dinosaur era, and has membranous wings.

   Synonyms

   resemble, look like, have/take on the appearance of, simulate, mirror, echo

   North American informal make like
2. 1.2 (of a drug) replicate the physiological effects of (another substance)
   the drug ephedrine mimics noradrenaline

   Example sentencesExamples

   • They can also be molecular (when, for example, a compound that mimics a hormone alters gene expression) or social.
   • New research has found that buckwheat extract contains a powerful ingredient called chiroinositol, which mimics the effects of insulin.
   • Exendin - 4 mimics a mammalian hormone known as glucagon-like peptide, which regulates insulin release and glucose uptake from the blood after a meal.
   • Some of these chemicals may mimic hormones, thereby disrupting the endocrine system.
   • The responses of roots of both cultivars to mechanical probing and to exoenzymes, used to mimic nematode chemical secretions, were also examined.
   • Nonylphenol is an alkylphenol that mimics estrogen and disrupts sexual development in some invertebrates.
   • Further tests showed that eleutherobin mimics taxol's very unusual method of blocking cell division.
   • We have long known that a variety of species are responsive to pheromones produced by plants to mimic sex pheromones.
   • Treatment with the histidine modifying reagent DEPC largely mimics the effects of low pH i.
   • Environmental groups also want the FDA to require companies to disclose the use of phthalates and compounds that mimic hormones on plastic container labels.
   • Many manufactured chemicals mimic natural hormones and send false messages.
   • Sometimes mimicking natural hormones like estrogen, they alter other hormone concentrations.
   • In an extreme case of sex fakery, an orchid produces oddball chemicals that mimic a female wasp's allure so well that males prefer the floral scents to the real thing, scientists say.
   • Another exceptionally useful trace mineral to combat diabetes is vanadium, which lowers blood sugar by mimicking insulin and improving the cells' sensitivity to insulin.
   • This is unlikely given that the ATP effect was mimicked by ADP, and was also completely insensitive to oligomycin.
   • That's because one of the ways it achieves its healthful effects is by mimicking the female sex hormone.
   • To take the guesswork out of timing spray applications, Trece designed a trap with a kairomone - a scent that mimics the adult beetle's favorite food.
   • Caffeine might mimic a stimulating antidepressant such as fluoxetine (Prozac).
   • Once extracted from these natural sources, the hormones are refined to mimic the human hormone molecule.
   • Why the absence of a motor protein should mimic the effects of a drug that presumably inhibits F-actin assembly remains a mystery.
3. 1.3 (of a disease) exhibit symptoms that bear a deceptive resemblance to those of (another disease)
   bacterial meningitis can present with acute disturbance of behaviour which may closely mimic substance abuse

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Hansen's disease can mimic tinea corporis by presenting as one or more annular, sometimes scaly, plaques.
   • There are fears that BSE in sheep could mimic scrapie, which passes easily by horizontal infection from sheep to sheep.
   • Congenital toxoplasmosis can mimic disease caused by organisms such as herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, and rubella virus.
   • The symptoms are many and varied, and the illness often seems to mimic other diseases.
   • Mentioning that other conditions, such as thyroid disease, can mimic the symptoms of depression may help further persuade your loved one to seek treatment.
   • Acute eosinophilic pneumonia, a rare and often fatal form of the disease that has developed in soldiers serving in and near Iraq, mimics community-acquired pneumonia.
   • Recent research has demonstrated the toxicity of aluminium; in fact many of the symptoms of aluminium toxicity can mimic Alzheimer's disease.
   • Gastroduodenal tuberculosis may mimic peptic ulcer disease with a shorter duration of history and non response to anti-secretary therapy 18.
   • A cavitating tumor or post obstructive pneumonitis mimics a primary infection or abscess and can produce symptoms of fever, chills and productive cough.
   • Because other entities may mimic tinea infection, treatment should not be initiated on the basis of clinical presentation alone.
   • Other conditions that may mimic pancreatic cancer include chronic pancreatitis and choledocholithiasis.
   • The thyroid-stimulating hormone level should be checked routinely because hypothyroidism can mimic the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
   • This is a complicated issue for the elderly because HIV and AIDS are often misdiagnosed in this population, as symptoms often mimic other illnesses.
   • Rarely, human immunodeficiency virus infection and opportunistic infections can mimic MS.
   • Fungal or mycobacterial infections usually have an indolent and protracted course but can mimic bacterial arthritis.
   • It is common, benign, and may mimic other common illnesses.
   • Asthma symptoms vary widely and may mimic other childhood diseases.
   • Pulmonary KS may cause radiographic infiltrates and respiratory symptoms that mimic a variety of other infectious and neoplastic processes.
   • There are a couple of things which can present with massive splenomegaly in the context of granulomatous disorders and may occasionally mimic other syndromes.
   • Hantavirus infections can appear clinically uncharacteristic and may mimic other syndromes.

1A person skilled in imitating the voice or actions of others in an entertaining way.

1. 1.1 An animal or plant that mimics another.
   how did these insects evolve to become such perfect mimics?

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This female mimic swims between a mating pair just as the dominant male is about to fertilize the female's eggs and fertilizes some of them himself.
   • ‘There should be a larger cone of protection around more toxic species,’ which gives mimics room to evolve new color patterns.
   • Magpies have long been known as clever mimics, not afraid to tackle the call of another species of bird, or even the sound of a tractor, but Gisela Kaplan has enormous respect for them for other reasons.
   • The ashy drongo does a wonderful call imitation of the shikra, but one such mimic spoilt the effect somewhat by hunting down a butterfly and making a messy job of de-winging it before breakfasting.
   • Tui are of course mimics, and on Tiri they copy bellbirds.
   • Starlings are intelligent and adaptable, and are capable mimics.
   • Rettenmeyer was keen to find the beetles again, to take their photographs, to watch their behavior - in short, to understand how and why they came to be such exquisite mimics.
   • Pfennig, the University of North Carolina biologist, added that this aversion to mimics has been seen in other species as the result of genetics.
   • The mimic dips on his side and quivers just as the female does when she discharges her eggs.
   • These two ideas have been remarkably powerful in explaining animal behaviour, particularly that of the social insects (and their creepy mammalian mimics, the naked mole rats).
   • One notable and prized attribute of these little black and yellow beauties is they are brilliant mimics.
   • Thus, the similarity of the mimic O. israelitica to the model was higher with regard to the display size than those of O. boryi and O. caspia.
   • As a member of the mynah family, it is a skilled mimic.
   • A lone killer whale near a Canadian fishing village was a skilled mimic that barked just like a sea lion, a new study reveals.
   • The best known mimics in the animal world are birds.
   • Yellow-throated sneaker males are female mimics and cuckold orange males at a high rate.
   • In particular, one widely held belief is that there should always be strong selection pressure on mimics to resemble their models as closely as possible.
   • Researchers say ongoing analyses of the recordings have not yet enabled them to rule out other potential sound sources, such as the calls of blue jays, which are notorious mimics.
   • Besides the chance of spotting a wombat, Girraween also is home to that ultimate mimic, the lyrebird, and the wonderful powerful owl, which eats whole possums and throws away their tails.
   • A similar explanation has been proposed for other animal mimics that show evidence of vocal learning.

attributive Imitative of something.