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

One eyewitness, who gave his name as Gavin, described seeing one of the men who was initially suspected of being an attacker getting struck down by a police Taser. —Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025

The details surrounding the case, which became the subject of Netflix’s 2015 documentary Making a Murderer, remain unclear, with no official cause of death apart from homicide and no eyewitnesses to the crime. —Nicole Briese, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025

These emails represented the first new eyewitness information related to the disappearance in more than two decades. —Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025

Investigators conducted interviews with eyewitnesses and the driver, who police say remained cooperative throughout the investigation. —Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2025

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