dead ringer

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dead ringer

A person or thing that bears a strong resemblance to someone or something else. Susie was such a dead ringer for Kate Winslet that sometimes people would ask her for her autograph.
See also: dead, ringer

dead ringer

A person or thing that closely resembles another; an exact counterpart. For example, Brian's a dead ringer for his Dad, or That red bike is a dead ringer for Mary's. [Late 1800s]
See also: dead, ringer

a dead ringer for someone

INFORMAL
COMMON If you say that one person is a dead ringer for another, you mean that the first person looks or sounds exactly like the second. He's tall, dark and a dead-ringer for Robert Pattinson. Kovic is extraordinary in one respect: he's a dead ringer for the former US President. Note: The word `ringer' may originally have come from a name for dishonest traders at fairs who sold brass rings, pretending they were gold. In American horse racing, a `ringer' is a horse that has been dishonestly substituted for another in a race.
See also: dead, ringer, someone

a dead ˈringer for somebody

(informal) a person who looks extremely like somebody else: She’s a dead ringer for her mother.A ringer was a person or thing that pretended to be another person or thing. In horse racing for example, a ringer was a horse that was substituted for another in order to cheat in a race.
See also: dead, ringer, somebody

dead ringer

verb
See dead ringer for someone
See also: dead, ringer
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