identify by

identify (someone or something) by (something)

To use some specific characteristic to recognize someone or something. You'll be able to identify me by my red hair and purple dress. I can identify a plagiarized report by the writing, you know—and this is definitely a plagiarized report.
See also: by, identify
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

identify someone or something by something

to recognize someone or something because of something. Can you identify your baggage by any special marks? You can identify me by the red carnation in my lapel.
See also: by, identify
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • identify
  • identify (someone or something) by (something)
  • recognize (someone or something) by (something)
  • recognize by
  • know (someone or something) for what (they or it) is
  • know one for what one is
  • tell (someone or something) by (something)
  • tell by
  • spot (someone or something) as (something)
  • spot as
References in periodicals archive
In two and three dimensions, the resulting patterns closely resemble the clusters that people would identify by eye among the data points.
Data sorting for electronic noses