FINGERPRINT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fingerprint mean? 

• FINGERPRINT (noun)
  The noun FINGERPRINT has 3 senses:

1. a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations

2. a generic term for any identifying characteristic

3. a smudge made by a (dirty) finger

  Familiarity information: FINGERPRINT used as a noun is uncommon.

• FINGERPRINT (verb)
  The verb FINGERPRINT has 1 sense:

1. take an impression of a person's fingerprints

  Familiarity information: FINGERPRINT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FINGERPRINT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("fingerprint" is a kind of...):

biometric authentication; biometric identification; identity verification (the automatic identification of living individuals by using their physiological and behavioral characteristics)

mark; print (a visible indication made on a surface)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fingerprint"):

loop (the basic pattern of the human fingerprint)

thumbprint (fingerprint made by the thumb (especially by the pad of the thumb))

Derivation:

fingerprint (take an impression of a person's fingerprints)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A generic term for any identifying characteristic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

that tax bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it

Hypernyms ("fingerprint" is a kind of...):

identification (evidence of identity; something that identifies a person or thing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A smudge made by a (dirty) finger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

fingermark; fingerprint

Hypernyms ("fingerprint" is a kind of...):

blot; daub; slur; smear; smirch; smudge; spot (a blemish made by dirt)

Derivation:

fingerprint (take an impression of a person's fingerprints)

• FINGERPRINT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fingerprint    ... he / she / it fingerprints   
Past simple: fingerprinted   
Past participle: fingerprinted   
-ing form: fingerprinting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take an impression of a person's fingerprints

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "fingerprint" is one way to...):

reproduce (make a copy or equivalent of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They want to fingerprint the prisoners

Derivation:

fingerprint (a smudge made by a (dirty) finger)

fingerprint (a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations)

fingerprinting (the procedure of taking inked impressions of a person's fingerprints for the purpose of identification)

 Context examples 

They used two biochemical "fingerprints" in the pine needles to trace the nutrients.

(Study reveals surprising role of dust in mountain ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

As these molecules spin and tumble through space, they emit a distinctive fingerprint of millimetre-wavelength light, a process known as rotational transition.

(Stellar Corpse Reveals Origin of Radioactive Molecules, ESO)

An international team of researchers have identified ‘fingerprints’ of multiple metals in one of the least dense exoplanets ever found.

(Multiple metals – and possible signs of water – found in unique exoplanet, University of Cambridge)

Mutational signatures are the fingerprints that carcinogens leave behind on our DNA, and just like fingerprints, each one is unique.

(‘Fingerprint database’ could help scientists to identify new cancer culprits, University of Cambridge)

The science of analyzing chemical fingerprints based on light is called "spectroscopy."

(Atmosphere of Midsize Planet Revealed by Hubble, Spitzer, NASA)

Scientists used NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to find the “fingerprints” of water in the atmosphere of a hot, bloated, Saturn-mass exoplanet some 700 light-years away.

(NASA Finds a Large Amount of Water in an Exoplanet's Atmosphere, NASA)

Laboratory experiments were used to find a chemical mixture that matched the cloud’s spectral signature — the chemical fingerprint measured by the CIRS instrument.

(NASA Team Finds Noxious Ice Cloud on Saturn’s Moon Titan, NASA)

As WASP-19b passes in front of its parent star, some of the starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere and leaves subtle fingerprints in the light that eventually reaches Earth.

(Inferno World with Titanium Skies, ESO)

To produce the spectral fingerprints seen by the team, the upper atmosphere of WASP-18b would have to be loaded with carbon monoxide.

(WASP-18b Has Smothering Stratosphere Without Water, NASA)

Most of the sulfate salts considered previously possess distinct absorptions, which serve as fingerprints for compounds, that should have been visible in the higher-quality Keck data.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)