ballistic identification
- noun
- /bəˈlɪstɪk ˌaɪˌdɛntɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
- Specialized
:
identificación balística
- Forensic experts used ballistic identification to link the bullet to the suspect's handgun.
Examples
-
The police used ballistic identification to solve the case.
-
Advances in ballistic identification have made it easier to solve gun-related crimes.
-
The report included detailed ballistic identification evidence that proved crucial in the trial.
-
Why is ballistic identification important in criminal investigations?
-
Forensic investigators used ballistic identification to match the bullet to the suspect's weapon.
-
The police department deployed new technology for ballistic identification to solve gun-related crimes more effectively.
-
Accurate ballistic identification can significantly aid in criminal investigations by linking firearms to specific shootings.
Synonyms
1
7.7
A way police use to find which gun fired a bullet by matching marks on bullets and casings
A way to identify the gun that fired a bullet by examining marks on the bullet and its case
How Certain
- Formal
8
4.8
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'ballistic' (relating to projectiles/motion of bullets) and 'identification' (establishing identity), so a learner would likely infer it means identifying something by ballistic methods. However, the precise forensic sense—matching unique marks on bullets/cartridges to a specific gun—is technical and not fully predictable from the general word meanings, so full understanding would require domain knowledge.
Etymology
Ballistic identification joins ballistic, meaning bullets, and identification, meaning finding a match. Bullets and their cases keep tiny marks, like fingerprints, and experts match those marks to a gun. So, ballistic identification means 'to find which gun fired a bullet'.