identification card

American  

noun

• identification cards
  plural

1. a card giving identifying data about a person, as full name, address, age, and color of hair and eyes, and often containing a photograph: for use as identification at a place of employment, school, club, etc.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• identification cards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of identification card

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

identification card

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 169, expanding its mobile driver’s license pilot program, which allows Californians to securely add their driver’s license or state identification card to their smartphones.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

In order to get a mammogram, Marfisee explained, the woman first needed to obtain a birth certificate, and then a state-issued identification card.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026

She provided her son's college identification card plus a description of his appearance, build and footwear.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

The federal Real ID Act will take effect May 7, meaning a standard state-issued driver’s license or identification card will no longer get people through airport security or into federal buildings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024

Intercity travel in North Korea had once been impossible without a travel permit, which would be stamped or folded into a “citizen’s certificate,” a passport-size document modeled after the old Soviet identification card.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden