eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness ˈī-ˈwit-nəs 

: one who sees an occurrence or an object

especially : one who gives a report of what has happened

Examples of eyewitness in a Sentence

The police are hoping to locate an eyewitness to the shooting.

He was able to give an eyewitness account of the shooting.

Recent Examples on the Web

The case ultimately turned on conflicting eyewitness testimony. —Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 29 Mar. 2026

But the other survivor’s testimony implicated Sierra, and that was enough to send him to prison in an era of limited forensic evidence and a high level of trust in eyewitnesses and police officers. —Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, 29 Mar. 2026

His family and multiple eyewitnesses in Tayasir said settlers stormed his home in the middle of the night and beat him. —Jeremy Diamond, CNN Money, 27 Mar. 2026

Defense attorney Joseph Esparza said there is not DNA evidence, fingerprints or eyewitnesses to place Preciado at the scene of the crime. —Gabriella Ybarra, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for eyewitness

• fitness
• witness
• unfitness

Kids Definition

eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness -ˈwit-nəs 

: a person who sees an occurrence and is able to give a report of it

Legal Definition

eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness

: one who sees an occurrence or object or sometimes experiences it through other senses (as hearing) and usually reports or testifies about it