noun
fingerprint
FIHNGG-prihnt
noun
1
The unique pattern of ridges on a fingertip, or the mark it leaves on a surface.
"Police lifted a fingerprint from the doorknob."
"No two people share the same fingerprint."
2
A distinctive combination of features that identifies something, used more broadly than just for fingers.
"The malware left a digital fingerprint that investigators traced."
verb
1
To record someone's fingerprints, or to uniquely identify something by its distinctive traits.
"Visitors to the facility are fingerprinted at the entrance."
How to Use Fingerprint
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe unique pattern on a fingertip, or by extension any unique identifying trace.
Common pairings
digital fingerprint
take fingerprints
fingerprint scanner
Word Forms
fingerprinted past tense, fingerprints plural, fingerprints singular
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Etymology
A compound of finger and print, referring literally to the mark, or "print," a finger leaves behind.