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fingerprint expert

fingerprint expert

1 4.1
A person who looks at prints left by fingers to identify people, often in police work
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪŋɡərˌprɪnt ˈɛkspɜrt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : perito en huellas dactilares
  • During the investigation, the police relied on advice from a skilled fingerprint expert to identify the culprit.

Examples

  • Ladies and gentlemen... ...you're about to hear the testimony of a fingerprint expert... ...concerning evidence that he claims to have identified on a certain glass.

  • What if the fingerprint experts can't identify him?

  • They aren't fingerprint experts, but they can follow any trail.

  • "Where's the boogie man when you need him?" my mother says when I come home with $28 from the one locker I closed carefully behind me, wiping it down as if that girl would notice before she touched it and call in the fingerprint expert.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • YOU'RE ABOUT TO HEAR THE TESTIMONY OF A FINGERPRINT EXPERT CONCERNING EVIDENCE HE CLAIMS TO HAVE IDENTIFIED IN A CERTAIN GLASS.

  • The jury listened carefully to the testimony of the fingerprint expert who analyzed the evidence.

  • After examining the crime scene, the fingerprint expert was able to match the prints to a suspect.

Synonyms

expert
vsfingerprint expert
3.2

A person who knows a lot about a subject and can help others

is trained to analyze and compare skin marks to identify people in investigations
specialist
vsfingerprint expert
352 3.9

A person who knows a lot about one area of work or study

is narrower and applies expertise specifically to skin mark identification in forensics
fingerprint specialist
vsfingerprint expert
  • Specialized
1 4.5

A person who finds and compares marks left by fingers to help the police

is identical in meaning but used more often in formal professional language

How Skilled

fingerprint expert
  • Specialized
1 4.1
technician
  • Specialized
184 3.7
trainee
50 2.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

fingerprint + expert

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'fingerprint' (a finger-made impression used for identification) + 'expert' (an individual with deep knowledge), i.e. an expert in fingerprints. This noun compound follows a transparent, productivity pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun fingerprint expert comes from the simple image of a person who studies the small fingerprint marks left by fingers. So a fingerprint expert is a trained person who reads those marks to 'identify' who left them, often at a crime scene.