fingerprint

fingerprint
    n 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; "that tax
       bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it"
    3: a smudge made by a (dirty) finger [syn: {fingermark},
       {fingerprint}]
    v 1: take an impression of a person's fingerprints
    

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]
    

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]
    

40 Moby Thesaurus words for "fingerprint":
      boss, bump, colophon, concavity, convexity, dactylogram,
      dactylograph, dent, dint, embossment, excrescence, footmark,
      footprint, footstep, fossil footprint, ichnite, ichnolite, impress,
      impression, imprint, indent, indentation, indention, lump, pad,
      paw print, pawmark, pimple, print, pug, pugmark, seal, sigil,
      signet, stamp, step, stud, thumbmark, thumbprint, vestige