Identify with friend wanting daughter (7)
I believe the answer is:
compare
'identify' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to thinking as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for compare that I've seen before include "Contrast - liken" , "what discriminators do" , "Look at differences and similarities between (things)" , "Represent as similar; sounds like emcee" .)