footage

noun

foot·​age ˈfu̇-tij 

1

: recorded video material

A camerawoman from Channel 12 shows up to grab some footage for the evening news.

—Bari Walsh

Video footage posted online shows him daring an audience member to fight …

—Latifah Muhammad

Ramsay uses security footage from inside and outside of the brownstone to detail Joe's actions.

—Kyle Turner

The documentary series that presents archival images and film footage in color continues, this week focusing on memorable events from the 1940s.

—Kristi Turnquist

2

: length or quantity expressed in feet: such as

a

: board feet

b

: the total number of running feet of motion-picture film used (as for a scene or subject)

The people of Hiroshima had a fund-raising campaign to purchase footage from films taken by American photographers … . They calculated they could purchase ten feet of footage for one thousand yen …

—Ruth Ann Keyso and Masahide Ota

Examples of footage in a Sentence

Some disturbing footage of the war was shown on the evening news.

Recent Examples on the Web

The following year, the defendants hacked into the mobile device of a producer who had collaborated with Grande and accessed unreleased masters and demos and footage from recording sessions. — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 28 July 2026

New drone footage has laid bare the devastating impact of the wildfires which have been raging in southwest France. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 July 2026

The two got into a physical fight, and someone shared the home-security-camera footage of the altercation with TMZ. — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 28 July 2026

The camera uses upgraded imaging sensors to keep footage in full color using available ambient light before automatically switching to black-and-white night vision when conditions become extremely dark. — Paul Lamkin, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing footage

• stock footage

Kids Definition

footage

noun

foot·​age ˈfu̇-tij 

1

: length measured in feet

2

: scenes or action recorded on film or video