identify
verb OPAL WOPAL S
/aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/
/aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they identify | /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ |
| he / she / it identifies | /aɪˈdentɪfaɪz/ /aɪˈdentɪfaɪz/ |
| past simple identified | /aɪˈdentɪfaɪd/ /aɪˈdentɪfaɪd/ |
| past participle identified | /aɪˈdentɪfaɪd/ /aɪˈdentɪfaɪd/ |
| -ing form identifying | /aɪˈdentɪfaɪɪŋ/ /aɪˈdentɪfaɪɪŋ/ |
- (also informal ID)to recognize somebody/something and be able to say who or what they are
- identify somebody/something She was able to identify her attacker.
- Passengers were asked to identify their own suitcases before they were put on the plane.
- identify yourself Many of those arrested refused to identify themselves (= would not say who they were).
- identify somebody/something as somebody/something The bodies were identified as those of two suspected drug dealers.
- identify somebody/something by something two species of waterbirds that can be identified by their distinctive beaks
Extra ExamplesTopics Crime and punishmenta2- All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines.
- Did you identify all the pictures correctly?
- I could identify him easily if I saw him again.
- Jaime successfully identified all 45 different species.
- Most students failed to identify the quotation.
- Ms. Wilson was publicly identified as a CIA operative.
- The newspaper declined to identify the source of the allegations.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- accurately
- correctly
- rightly
- …
- be able to
- be unable to
- can
- …
- efforts to identify somebody/something
- a means of identifying somebody/something
- a way of identifying somebody/something
- …
- closely
- completely
- fully
- …
- can
- closely
- clearly
- increasingly
- …
- to find or discover somebody/something
- identify somebody/something First of all we must identify the problem areas.
- Scientists have identified the gene responsible for the disease.
- As yet they have not identified a buyer for the company.
- to identify a need/factor/source/cause
- identify what, which, etc… They are trying to identify what is wrong with the present system.
Extra Examples- Business trends are rapidly identified by this system.
- He has stepped up efforts to identify and acquire other small companies.
- The new test will enable us to identify more accurately patients who are most at risk.
- The researchers hope to identify ways to improve the treatment.
- a computer program to automatically identify any query ending with a question mark
- We have not yet clearly identified the source of the pollution.
- Scientists have identified a link between diet and cancer.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- accurately
- correctly
- rightly
- …
- be able to
- be unable to
- can
- …
- efforts to identify somebody/something
- a means of identifying somebody/something
- a way of identifying somebody/something
- …
- closely
- completely
- fully
- …
- can
- closely
- clearly
- increasingly
- …
- identify somebody/something (as somebody/something) to make it possible to recognize who or what somebody/something is
- In many cases, the clothes people wear identify them as belonging to a particular social class.
- a serial number that uniquely identifies the disk
Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘treat as being identical with’): from medieval Latin identificare, from late Latin identitas (from Latin idem ‘same’) + Latin -ficare (from facere ‘make’).
Synonyms identifyidentify
- know
- recognize
- name
- make somebody/something out
- identify to be able to say who or what somebody/something is:
- She was able to identify her attacker.
- know to be able to say who or what something is when you see or hear it because you have seen or heard it before Know is used especially to talk about sounds that seem familiar and when somebody recognizes the quality or opportunity that somebody/something represents: I couldn’t see who was speaking, but I knew the voice. • She knows a bargain when she sees one.
- recognize to know who somebody is or what something is when you see or hear them/it, because you have seen or heard them/it before:
- I recognized him as soon as he came in the room.
- name to say the name of somebody/something in order to show that you know who/what they are:
- The victim has not yet been named.
- make somebody/something out to manage to see or hear somebody/something that is not very clear:
- I could just make out a figure in the darkness.
- to identify/know/recognize somebody/something by something
- to identify/recognize/name somebody/something as somebody/something
- to identify/know/recognize/make out who/what/how…
- to easily/barely/just identify/recognize/make out somebody/something