1. A print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations
   "The suspect's fingerprints were found on the murder weapon"
    
2. A smudge made by a (dirty) finger
   "fingerprints on the glass door revealed where people had pushed it open";
   - fingermark
    
3. A generic term for any identifying characteristic
   "that tax bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it"

1. Take an impression of a person's fingerprints
   "The police fingerprinted the suspect"

Derived forms: fingerprinted, fingerprints, fingerprinting

Type of: biometric authentication, biometric identification, blot, daub, ident [informal], identification, identity verification, mark, print, reproduce, smear, smirch, smudge, spot

Encyclopedia: Fingerprint