Word.ws English Dictionary

carbon-copy

carbon-copy is the alternative form of carbon copy.

Meaning of carbon copy

Noun

carbon copy (plural carbon copies)

  1. A copy produced in an alternated stack of ordinary sheets of paper and carbon papers. The pressure applied on the top sheet (by a pen or typewriter) causes every carbon paper to release its carbon cover, thus reproducing the writing on the subjacent layers of paper.
    • In preparing the contract, we'll make a carbon copy for our records.
    Synonyms:
    cc
  2. (broadly) A duplicate or lookalike.
    • This new home is simply a carbon copy of the one down the street.
  3. (Internet) A duplicate copy of an email.

See all 5 meanings of carbon copy

Forms of carbon-copy

Noun
pluralcarbon-copies
Verb
third-person singular presentcarbon-copies
present participlecarbon-copying
past participlecarbon-copied
pastcarbon-copied

Questions about carbon-copy

What is carbon-copy the alternative form of?
Carbon-copy is the alternative form of carbon copy.

Words near carbon-copy in the dictionary

  1. carbon-13 NMR
  2. carbon-14
  3. carbon-based
  4. carbon-carbon bond
  5. carbon-carbon bonds
  6. carbon-copy
  7. carbon-date
  8. carbon-dated
  9. carbon-dates
  10. carbon-dating
  11. carbon-ferrous

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carbon-copy (page history and authors); carbon copy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “carbon-copy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carbon-copy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.