From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishidentifyi‧den‧ti‧fy /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ ●●● W1 AWL verb (identified, identifying, identifies) [transitive] 1 RECOGNIZEto recognize and correctly name someone or something He was too far away to be able to identify faces. The police took fingerprints and identified the body.identify somebody/something as somebody/something Eyewitnesses identified the gunman as an army sergeant. The aircraft were identified as American.► see thesaurus at recognize2 FIND OUTto recognize something or discover exactly what it is, what its nature or origin is etc Scientists have identified the gene that causes abnormal growth. They identified a number of problem areas.3 SHOW/BE A SIGN OFif a particular thing identifies someone or something, it makes them easy to recognizeidentify somebody as somebody His accent identified him as a Frenchman. → identify with→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
identify• Experts are examining the wreckage, but the cause of the accident has not yet been identified.• Police hope that a member of the public will be able to identify a man seen acting suspiciously a few hours before the murder took place.• The airline says it will be difficult to identify all the bodies retrieved from the crash.• Most plants in our aquariums identified as A. crispus are actually hybrids that were produced in nature or under artificial conditions.• The girl, identified as Shelly Barnes, fell from the window when her mother's back was turned.• Dubois was identified by immigration control, and arrested at Kennedy airport.• We identified co-operative federalism with concurrent powers as a contrast to competitive federalism and exclusive powers.• The victim identified her attacker in court.• An element of public accountability can also be identified in the recurrent attentions of elected Members of Parliament.• This will help you identify little-word buildup and, eventually, cut little words before you write them.• What matters is to identify problems and opportunities.• Greg had to identify the body of his wife.• proposals to identify the fathers of children born to single mothers• Sara identified the man as Kang, a notorious gang leader and drug baron.• Can you identify the man who robbed you?• And both offices have identified the need to pay volunteers something for their work, or lose them altogether.• Researchers have identified the substances which can cause allergies.• After years of research, scientists have identified the virus that is responsible for the disease.• Those friends, who were not identified, were invited by Bonin to witness the execution.identified the body• The police took fingerprints from it and identified the body.• Voice over Mrs Garvey's uncle Richard Moore, who formally identified the bodies, attended the inquest.identify somebody as somebody• Workers will wear badges to identify them as park employees.Origin identify (1600-1700) Late Latin identificare, from Latin idem; → IDENTITY 