Meaning of "take imprints"
What does take imprints mean in the following passage taken from CNN?
People who approach the Wall have been known to break down in tears. They touch the engraved names delicately, as if the letters are inscribed with an electric charge. Many take imprints; others leave flowers and mementos.
Does it mean to make a copy of the imprints and then take it away?
Solution 1:
The verb take is being used in the same way that one takes a photo:
- To obtain by deriving from a source
- to obtain as the result of a special procedure : ascertain (take the temperature)(take a census)
- to get in or as if in writing (take notes) (take an inventory)
- to get by drawing or painting or by photography (take a snapshot)
- to get by transference from one surface to another (take a proof) (take fingerprints)
That is, the visitors are making imprints of the names in the Wall. This can be done by putting a piece of paper against the wall, and shading the name with crayon or pencil. Visitors would then take them away, but that is not stated by your quote.
Solution 2:
Taking an imprint is using a way of recording something physical on a single piece of paper. If you take an imprint of fingerprints, you dip them in ink and then press the fingertips against paper, leaving an imprint of the fingerprints on the paper.
In this case, they push the paper up against the wall and either press down on it so that the names are weakly left in the paper, or "sketch" on the paper the places where the paper is pushed in.
I suspect that this practice isn't all too common, and has just been used for emotional impact in the news story.