a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations
"The detective lifted the fingerprint from the glass and immediately matched it to the suspect's file."
a generic term for any identifying characteristic
"that tax bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it"
a smudge made by a (dirty) finger
"The fresh paint on the white wall was ruined by a dark fingerprint left when I leaned against it to check my work."
The natural pattern of ridges on the tips of human fingers, unique to each individual.
"The security system rejected my entry because it could not match the digital scan against my stored fingerprint."
take an impression of a person's fingerprints
"The security guard took my fingerprint before allowing me into the restricted server room."
To take somebody's fingerprints.
"The police officer asked me to place my finger on the ink pad so he could take my fingerprints for the case file."