be the (very) image of (someone)

To look exactly like someone else. Wow, you are just the very image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the image of someone I went to high school with. The resemblance is uncanny! Pete? Oh, I'm sorry, Larry. From the side, you are the very image of Pete from Accounting!

be the spit and image of (someone)

To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to someone. Wow, you are just the spit and image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the spit and image of someone I went to high school with. Pete? Oh, I'm sorry, Larry. From the side, you are the spit and image of Pete from Accounting!

be the spitten image of (someone)

old-fashioned To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to someone. Wow, you are just the spitten image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the spitten image of someone I went to high school with. Pete? Oh, I'm sorry, Larry. From the side, you are the spitten image of Pete from Accounting!

be the spitting image of (someone)

To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to someone. Wow, you are just the spitting image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the spitting image of someone I went to high school with. Pete? Oh, I'm sorry, Larry. From the side, you are the spitting image of Pete from Accounting!

graven image

An image of an idol, especially a carving or sculpture, that one worships (something that was expressly forbidden in the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God). Many residents have described the statues as graven images of the country's sordid past issues of slavery and racism. Destroy these graven images at once! We are only to worship the one true God! The university has an ugly history rife with racism and sexism. Sure, we can remove all graven images of leaders from that era, but it won't change history.

image of health

One who is or looks especially healthy, robust, of full of vitality. My grandmother is nearly 70 and smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, but somehow she's still the image of health. It's amazing how having a bit of a tan can make someone an image of health. My dad adopted a really healthy lifestyle in his 20s, so he's the image of health now in his 60s.

in the image of (someone or something)

In the likeness of someone or something; resembling someone or something. Legend has it he wanted a palatial estate built in the image of the Taj Mahal—well, until his money ran out, that is. Hence the modest home you see before you. The Bible states that man was made in the image of God. The famous author built his new house in the image of his childhood home—or so I've heard.

look like the spitting image of (someone)

To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to someone. Wow, you seriously look like the spitting image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spitting image of someone I went to high school with. The resemblance is uncanny!

mirror image

A person or thing that has or represents the same characteristics as someone or something else. Over the years, the young girl became a mirror image of her mother, down to the slightest mannerisms. The government's policy is really just a mirror image of their last one, only dressed up in different terminology. The villainous mastermind of the story is clearly meant to be a mirror image of Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes's nefarious nemesis.

the living image of (someone or something)

1. One who looks exactly like someone else. Wow, you are just the living image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name.

2. Someone or something that represents or is the embodiment of something. Nanotechnology has advanced far more rapidly than any could have predicted, and she is the living image of this growing field. Working-class citizens are continuing to reject the current political establishment for being out of touch with ordinary people's lives, and this election result is the living image of that defiance.

the spit and image of (one)

A person who looks exactly like or bears a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spit and image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spit and image of someone I went to high school with.

the spitten image of (one)

old-fashioned A person who looks exactly like or bears a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spitten image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spitten image of someone I went to high school with.

the spitting image of (one)

A person who looks exactly like or bears a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spitting image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spitting image of someone I went to high school with.

*spit and image of someone

and *the spitting image of someone

the very likeness of someone; a very close resemblence to someone. (*The second version is a frequent error. *Typically: be ~; look like ~.) John is the spit and image of his father. At first, I thought you were saying "spitting image."

spitting image

A precise resemblance, especially in closely related persons. For example, Dirk is the spitting image of his grandfather. This idiom alludes to the earlier use of the noun spit for "likeness," in turn probably derived from an old proverb, "as like as one as if he had been spit out of his mouth" (c. 1400). The current idiom dates from about 1900.

the spitting image

If you say that one person is the spitting image of another, you mean that the first person looks exactly like the second. He is the spitting image of his father. Now Nina looks the spitting image of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Note: People occasionally use the spit and image or the dead spit to mean the same thing. Six-month-old Caleb is the spit and image of his daddy. He was handsome — the dead spit of Tikhonov, the film actor. Note: The origin of this expression is uncertain, but it may have developed from `spirit and image'. If one person was the spirit and image of another, they were alike both in character and physical appearance.

a graven image

a carved representation of a god used as an object of worship.

This expression is from the second of the Ten Commandments: ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’ (Exodus 20:4).

the living image of

an exact copy or likeness of.

be the image of somebody/something

be the living/spitting/very image of somebody/something

be very similar to, or look exactly like somebody/something else: She’s the spitting image of her mother.

See also: image, of, somebody, something

spitting image, the

An exact resemblance, usually said of parent and child or other close relatives. This term comes from the earlier spit and image, which, since spit meant “likeness,” was redundant. Nevertheless, it was widely used from the late nineteenth century on, and by the mid-twentieth century, probably through mispronunciation or misspelling, was converted to the current cliché.