Fingerprint Meaning
/ˈfɪŋɡɚˌpɹɪnt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe natural pattern of ridges on the tips of human fingers, unique to each individual.
nounThe pattern left on a surface where an uncovered fingertip has touched, especially as used to identify the person who touched the surface.
Sentence Examples
The first thing that caught his eye was a fingerprint on the glass.
Tom's fingerprint was evidence that he was there.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective found a clear ____ on the safe, which matched the suspect's hand.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective found a single ____ on the glass, which eventually led to the suspect's arrest.
Word Origin & History
From finger + print.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Nervously, he wiped the gun of fingerprints real and imaginary with the stocking-covered fingers."
— 1974, Patricia Highsmith, chapter 7, in Ripley's Game:
"The crime scene investigator has the responsibility of collecting latent fingerprints."
— 2012, Christopher C. Harmon, Criminal Investigation, →ISBN, page 108:
"Most pharmacopoeial monographs of medicinal plants include TLC as method for identification based on a chromatographic fingerprint, which consists of a sequence of characteristic substance zones."
— 2008, Monika Waksmundzka-Hajnos, Joseph Sherma, Teresa Kowalska, Thin Layer Chromatography in Phytochemistry, →ISBN, page 40:
"The set of all location fingerprints and coordinates constitutes the location fingerprint database."
— 2010, Christoph Steiner, Location Fingerprinting for Ultra-wideband Systems, →ISBN, page 9:
"And continue to ask yourself the question, could the incredible complexity of the human body with its multitudinous specialized functions have come into being completely by chance or is it another fingerprint of God?"
— 1999, Arvin S. Gibson, Fingerprints of God, →ISBN, page 141:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective found a clear ____ on the safe, which matched the suspect's hand.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective found a single ____ on the glass, which eventually led to the suspect's arrest.