Dictionary-Definition.com :: Fingerprint definition

Definition of 'fingerprint'

noun

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

noun

A generic term for any identifying characteristic; "that tax bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it"

noun

A smudge made by a (dirty) finger [syn: fingermark, fingerprint]

verb

Take an impression of a person's fingerprints

From: GCIDE

Fingerprint \Fin"ger*print\, n. [Finger + print.]
1. an impression of the pattern of ridges on the skin of the last joint of a person's finger, left on a surface after a person has touched the surface.
Note: Fingerprints left by persons who have committed crimes are considered as reliable physical evidence linking an individual with a crime, because each person's fingerprints are distinctively different from those of others, allowing identification of a person with high confidence. [PJC]
2. a fingerprint[1] made intentionally in ink on a paper form for the purpose of identification of the individual. [PJC]
3. any distinctive pattern of characteristics or properties of an object which can serve to identify that object; as, the distinctive fingerprint of eugenol in the mass spectrum allowed easy recognition of its presence in the sample. [PJC]
4. a smudge made by a (dirty) finger. [WordNet sense 3]
Syn: fingermark. [WordNet 1.5]

From: GCIDE

fingerprint \fin"ger*print\ v. t. to take an impression of the fingerprints of (a person); as, to fingerprint applicants for a gun permit. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]