dis ‧ tin ‧ guish S3 W3 /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: distinguer , from Latin distinguere 'to separate using a sharp pointed object' ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to recognize and understand the difference between two or more things or people SYN differentiate
distinguish between
His attorney argued that Cope could not distinguish between right and wrong.
distinguish somebody/something from
a method of distinguishing cancer cells from normal tissue
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually use the phrases tell the difference between somebody/something or tell somebody/something from somebody/something , rather than distinguish :
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He can’t tell the difference between right and wrong.
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How do you tell cancer cells from healthy cells?
2 . [transitive not in progressive] to be the thing that makes someone or something different or special
distinguish somebody/something from
The factor that distinguishes this company from the competition is customer service.
distinguishing feature/mark/characteristic
The main distinguishing feature of this species is the leaf shape.
3 . [transitive not in progressive] written to be able to see the shape of something or hear a particular sound:
The light was too dim for me to distinguish anything clearly.
4 . distinguish yourself to do something so well that people notice and remember you:
He distinguished himself on several occasions in the civil war.
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THESAURUS
▪ recognize to know who someone is or what something is, especially because you have seen or heard them before:
I hadn’t seen her for ten years, but I recognized her immediately.
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Do you recognize this song?
▪ identify to recognize someone or something and say who or what they are:
As they came closer, I was able to identify two of the group.
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It’s delicious but I can’t quite identify the taste.
▪ distinguish to recognize and understand the difference between two or more things or people:
By this age, kids can usually distinguish between right and wrong.
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It’s often difficult to distinguish identical twins from each other.
▪ make something/somebody out to be able to see or hear something or someone – used when it is very difficult to do this:
In the distance, I could just make out the outline of an island.
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He whispered something but I couldn’t make out what it was.
▪ discern /dɪˈsɜːn $ -ɜːrn/ formal to notice or understand something by looking carefully or thinking about it carefully:
I thought I discerned a faint gleam of hope in his eyes.
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A number of differences can be discerned in the data for the three countries.