eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness ˈī-ˈwit-nəs 

: one who sees an occurrence or an object

especially : one who gives a report on what he or she has seen

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

In truth, there is apparently no eyewitness account—and possibly as few as three questionable second-hand accounts—from before the Civil War that this Yule Log custom ever took hold on a single Southern plantation much less across the entire South. —Robert E. May / Made By History, TIME, 19 Dec. 2024

An eyewitness claimed to responding officers from the Burbank Police Department that Kennedy, 32, grabbed the woman, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, on the evening of Tuesday, December 10, TMZ reported. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024

The drones are larger than the type typically used by hobbyists, officials and eyewitnesses have said. —Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 10 Dec. 2024

There were videos captured by eyewitnesses—Darrick Clay, Moriyela Sanchez, Ivette Rosario—and body-cam footage from police officers: Tejada, Ceesay, Kang, Ortiz, Joefield, and Johnson. —Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

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