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

Even so, getting so many officers and eyewitnesses to testify under oath can help the defense down the road. —Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 12 Dec. 2025

The eyewitnesses, including military observers, were wrong. —Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 7 Dec. 2025

Walter White, founder of Georgia's NAACP chapter, investigated the killings immediately afterward, interviewing eyewitnesses and providing suspect names to the governor. —Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025

Then, in 2022, the two other alleged eyewitnesses were arrested in an unrelated case. —Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 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