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

The victim, who has not been identified, suffered severe crushing injuries to his lower limbs after becoming trapped in a lifting system, local fire authorities told Reuters, citing eyewitness accounts. —Edward Segarra, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026

Video of the crash taken by eyewitness Allie Cardoza, who was in a nearby vehicle at the time, shows the train colliding with the front of a black SUV. —Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026

An eyewitness account shared via France24 detailed the scene at the time of the incident. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 27 Apr. 2026

Here is a moment-by-moment account of the events, according to authorities and eyewitness accounts. —Charles Forelle, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026

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