What does fingerprint mean?
Word: Fingerprint
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Fingerprint means the pattern of tiny curved lines on the tip of each finger, or the mark it leaves when you touch something.
How do you spell fingerprint?
Syllables: fin - ger - print
Tricky part: The first half keeps its er ending, so fingur and fingre are wrong, and the second r is easy to lose when the word is said fast.
Watch out for: fingurprint, fingreprint, fingerpint
Memory tip: Press a finger on an ink pad and then on paper: the mark is made of two short words you already know, joined with nothing added or lost.
Fingerprint in a sentence
Example 1: My little brother left fingerprints all over the clean window.
Example 2: Grandma's new phone opens with her fingerprint.
Example 3: Riya's sticky fingerprints were all over the mirror after she ate the doughnut.
Fun Fact
Koalas have fingerprints so like ours that, even under a microscope, they can be hard to tell apart from human ones.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) toothbruch
b) fingerprint
c) raincote
d) newspapper
Show answer
b) fingerprint. Finger and print join just as they are; nothing is added or dropped.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
f_ngerpr_nt
a) i, e
b) e, e
c) e, i
d) i, i
Show answer
d) i, i. Both gaps take a short i sound, the same vowel twice.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
prifnetrign
a) frightening
b) fingerprint
c) fingernail
d) fingertip
Show answer
b) fingerprint. Fingertip leaves out the second r and an n, and the other two need letters that are not here; only fingerprint uses all eleven.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) finngerprint
b) footprint
c) thumbnail
d) handwriting
Show answer
a) finngerprint. Only one n comes before the g; the double n is the slip.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why can a fingerprint unlock a phone, just like a password?
a) fingerprints show how old a person is
b) fingerprints change colour every day
c) only grown-ups leave any fingerprints
d) no two people have the same pattern
Show answer
d) no two people have the same pattern
2. Fingerprints are left on a smooth glass mostly because our fingertips carry ____.
a) sweat and oil
b) traces of ink
c) tiny hairs
d) dust from the air
Show answer
a) sweat and oil
