identify
Frequently Asked Questions
- recognize—to be able to tell what something is (and often to know its name), as in He immediately identified/recognized it as a monarch butterfly.
- diagnose or pinpoint, as in My mechanic was finally able to identify/diagnose/pinpoint the problem.
- associate, such as with a certain group or belief, as in She’s known for identifying/associating with the party’s reform wing.
- distinguish, as in Her height identified/distinguished her as the volleyball player.
- establish (who someone is), as in He has been identified/established as the main suspect. Relatedly, to identify someone is to figure out who they are—to establish their identity.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While the canning process preserved the outer structure of the worms, it destroyed the internal features scientists would need to identify specific species.
From Science Daily
"By specifically disrupting folding dynamics, we were able to identify the aspects of spatial genome organization that contribute to gene regulation and expression."
From Science Daily
Under current procedures, urine samples must be cultured overnight so bacteria can grow before doctors can identify them and test antibiotics.
From Science Daily
Researchers at the University of California, Davis have identified a surprising property in a class of materials known as perovskites that could pave the way for a new generation of light-controlled semiconductor devices.
From Science Daily
These methods allow scientists to identify chemical compounds by measuring how they interact with light.
From Science Daily
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
