eyewitness

noun

eye·wit·ness | \ ˈī-ˈwit-nəs

Definition of eyewitness

: 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

Meantime, neighbors and eyewitnesses described a weekend scene of destruction as flames rose from the Gasciogne Lumber Co. and Northwest Millwork operations along the ship canal between Puget Sound and Lake Union. — Sara Jean Green, The Seattle Times, "Cause of massive North Queen Anne lumber yard fire remains under investigation," 13 Nov. 2018 This is where the stories of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and Steven’s family and apparent eyewitnesses split. — Sarah Mearhoff, Teen Vogue, "Chicago Teen Shooting Victim Steven Rosenthal's Family Counters Suicide Ruling," 20 Aug. 2018 There's no eyewitnesses' Phommathep said Neal was smart about his shooting. — Dale Kasler, Anita Chabria And Ryan Sabalow, sacbee, "'Nobody had to die.' Neighbors say Tehama sheriff ignored year of terror before shootings | The Sacramento Bee," 13 Apr. 2018 Initially wanted as an eyewitness, Cary was confronted by police in July of 1999, and ended up confessing to all four murders. — Selena Barrientos, Good Housekeeping, "The True Story Behind Cary Stayner's Murders and His Brother Steven's Legacy," 25 Jan. 2019 Many killings were carried out by blue-shirted members of paramilitary groups loyal to Mr. Ortega and his Sandinista party, according to eyewitnesses, U.S. officials and former Nicaraguan government officials. — Robbie Whelan, WSJ, "U.S. Ramps Up Nicaragua Sanctions, Citing Corruption, Abuses," 27 Nov. 2018 Prosecutors and police pieced together events using accounts from six eyewitnesses, three of whom saw the entire incident. — Alex Horton, The Seattle Times, "A man hurled racist slurs and a punch at a FedEx driver — then died after he was punched back," 21 Nov. 2018 After wrapping up her two-hour block about San Bernardino last week, deftly jumping from interviews with eyewitnesses to interviews with experts, Baldwin took off her mic and retreated to her office. — Kate Storey, Marie Claire, "What It Feels Like to Report, Live on Air, Every Mass Shooting in America," 7 Dec. 2015 At that same afterparty, an eyewitness told Us Weekly that Stone and McCary joined Taylor Swift, Joe Alwyn, Rachel Weiss, and Daniel Craig (two other VERY private couples) at a table. — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "Who Is Emma Stone's Boyfriend Dave McCary, a 'Saturday Night Live' Segment Director?," 16 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eyewitness.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.