Meaning & use
fingermark
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A dirty mark left on a surface by a finger.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a fingermark' or 'fingermarks'.
Patterns
- leave fingermarks on something
- wipe off fingermarks
The glass door was covered in fingermarks.
She wiped the fingermarks off the mirror.
Fingermarks on the wall showed where children had touched it.
Word forms
| plural | fingermarks |
|---|
Common combinations
- leave fingermarks
- The children left fingermarks all over the window.
- wipe away fingermarks
- He wiped away the fingermarks with a cloth.
- greasy fingermarks
- Greasy fingermarks are hard to remove from paper.
Synonyms and how they differ
- smudge
- A smudge can be any dirty mark, not necessarily made by a finger.
- fingerprint
- A fingerprint is the pattern of lines on a finger, often used for identification, while a fingermark is just a visible dirty mark.
Commonly confused: fingermark or fingerprint?
fingermark vs fingerprint
A fingerprint is the unique pattern of ridges on a finger, used by police; a fingermark is simply a smudge left behind.
Practice
The cleaner spent ages removing ______ from the glass table.
Choose one answer.
'Fingermarks' are dirty marks left by fingers, which a cleaner would remove. 'Fingerprints' are the ridge patterns used for identification, not usually described as something to clean off a table.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fingermark”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.