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 Israeli military has carried out heavy bombing and ground attacks on Gaza City in recent days, eyewitnesses and Palestinian authorities say, choking vital services and leaving hundreds of thousands of people crammed into an ever-shrinking area. —Mahmoud Atef, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2025

The eyewitness, according to Fox, also heard a racial slur by one of the White people before the events depicted in the video. —Kevin Grasha, The Enquirer, 29 Aug. 2025

As international journalists have been banned from entering Gaza, foreign aid workers have had to step into the role of providing eyewitness testimonies for Western audiences. —Seema Jilani august 29, Literary Hub, 29 Aug. 2025

Investigators are reviewing tram surveillance footage and seeking eyewitness accounts from other passengers. —Daniel Orton, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 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