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

The source said while there have been eyewitness reports of what appear to be drones over New Jersey, agency officials stressed in meetings Thursday many videos on social media appear to be civilian airplanes or helicopters. —Polo Sandoval, CNN, 13 Dec. 2024

The case will likely rest on whether jurors find merit in the defense’s explanation that the eyewitnesses who identified Rucker as the shooter were simply repeating a false rumor that had been inadvertently started at the crime scene. —Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 10 Dec. 2024

Mali is one of the world’s great musical cradles, and its sounds have been beguiling foreigners ever since the medieval explorer Ibn Battuta provided the only surviving eyewitness account of the empire. —Eliot Stein, Rolling Stone, 9 Dec. 2024

Distressing videos taken by eyewitnesses at the scene appeared to show large columns of smoke and flames spreading from the overturned vehicle. —James Bwala, ABC News, 16 Oct. 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