indirect evidence

noun

|Updated on: 31 May 2018

Definition of indirect evidence

: evidence that establishes immediately collateral facts from which the main fact may be inferred : circumstantial evidence

Recent Examples of indirect evidence from the Web

That’s why, for this new study in the journal Nature, an international team of astronomers relied on indirect evidence, searching instead for signatures of oxygen and helium—elements that can only be created in the cores of stars.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Astronomers Find Signature From the Universe’s Earliest Known Stars," 22 May 2018
Attorneys usually try to prove their case with indirect evidence, such as a defendant’s hiring record.

— liz kowalczyk, BostonGlobe.com, "Black nurses sue Brigham and Women’s Hospital," 29 Apr. 2018
So the new studies sought to infer the state of the circulation from more indirect evidence.

— chris mooney, chicagotribune.com, "Studies say Atlantic Ocean's circulation slowing dramatically, increasing climate change fears," 11 Apr. 2018
So the new studies sought to infer the state of the circulation from more indirect evidence.

— chris mooney, BostonGlobe.com, "Atlantic Ocean circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. What that means for New England," 11 Apr. 2018
Caltech astronomers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin have accumulated indirect evidence for an object that’s more than twice the diameter of Earth, but 10 times as far from the sun as Pluto.

— david freeman, NBC News, "15 top science & tech leaders offer surprising predictions for 2018," 31 Dec. 2017
Until now there was only indirect evidence of kilonovas.

— dennis overbye, New York Times, "LIGO Detects Fierce Collision of Neutron Stars for the First Time," 16 Oct. 2017
Several years ago, observations of the behaviour of pairs of dead stars called pulsars provided indirect evidence that such waves are real.

— The Economist, "The Nobel physics prize goes to the spotters of gravitational waves," 3 Oct. 2017
And, whatever the value of using indirect evidence to interpret the Constitution, the demands of historical research and vigorous legal advocacy can tug in different directions.

— adam liptak, New York Times, "‘Lonely Scholar With Unusual Ideas’ Defends Trump, Igniting Legal Storm," 25 Sep. 2017

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