Witness
verb
To see an event, typically a crime or accident, occur.
I witnessed a car accident on the way home.
Often appears as...
- witness a crime
- witness an accident
noun
A person who has seen an event take place.
He was a witness to the robbery.
Often appears as...
- bear witness
- key witness
Usage tips
Legal
verb
Show or give clear evidence of something.
His works witness to his talent.
Often appears as...
- witness to the fact
- witness in court
noun
A person who gives evidence in a court of law.
The witness gave her evidence to the court.
Often appears as...
- eye witness
- expert witness
Usage tips
Formal
Legal
verb
To be the place where a significant event occurs.
The city witnessed a major political event.
Often appears as...
- witness a change
- witness a transformation
verb
To see an event, typically a crime or accident, occur.
I witnessed a car accident on the way home.
Often appears as...
- witness a crime
- witness an accident
noun
A person who has seen an event take place.
He was a witness to the robbery.
Often appears as...
- bear witness
- key witness
Usage tips
Legal
verb
Show or give clear evidence of something.
His works witness to his talent.
Often appears as...
- witness to the fact
- witness in court
noun
A person who gives evidence in a court of law.
The witness gave her evidence to the court.
Often appears as...
- eye witness
- expert witness
Usage tips
Formal
Legal
verb
To be the place where a significant event occurs.
The city witnessed a major political event.
Often appears as...
- witness a change
- witness a transformation
Definition 1 of 5
Pro Tip 1/2Firsthand Experience
Used when someone directly sees or experiences an event without hearing it from someone else.
They witnessed the shoplifting themselves.
Pro Tip 2/2Passive Involvement
Implies the observer did not participate in the event, but simply saw it happen.
Hundreds of people witnessed the parade.
Pro Tip 1/2Firsthand Experience
Used when someone directly sees or experiences an event without hearing it from someone else.
They witnessed the shoplifting themselves.
Pro Tip 2/2Passive Involvement
Implies the observer did not participate in the event, but simply saw it happen.
Hundreds of people witnessed the parade.
Pro Tip 1/2Firsthand Experience
Used when someone directly sees or experiences an event without hearing it from someone else.
They witnessed the shoplifting themselves.
Pro Tip 2/2Passive Involvement
Implies the observer did not participate in the event, but simply saw it happen.
Hundreds of people witnessed the parade.
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Video examples
What can Schrödinger's...
Sure, that's easy. The ball will move upward until it gets to some highest point, then it will come back down and land in your hand again. Of course, that's what happens, and you know this because you have witnessed events like this countless times. You've been observing the physics of everyday phenomena your entire life.
Video examples
The five major world...
into a life of luxury. Venturing forth from his sheltered existence as a young man, he witnessed the human suffering that had been hidden from him and immediately set out to investigate its sources. Why must people endure suffering? Must we reincarnate through hundreds of lives? At first he thought the problem
Video examples
Kailash Satyarthi: How...
and the first tear of joy rolls down on her cheek, I see the glimpse of God in it -- this is my biggest inspiration. And I am so lucky that not once, as I said before, but thousands of times, I have been able to witness my God in the faces of those children and they are my biggest inspirations.
Video examples
Filming Antarctica's...
but they had never they'd never really witnessed you know kind of really what happened we also knew that there was a melt pool quite drastically forming above where we were working every day the sun sun's influence was getting more and more the surface of the ice in some areas especially
Video examples
ONE HOUR Of Amazing...
towards the ice and just creating these waves and it was just it was incredible it was really amazing we'd all witnessed something that no one had ever seen before ever and it just felt like this total window onto another world and another time and place
Video examples
How do pregnancy tests...
A few minutes can feel like forever when you're waiting on the results of a pregnancy test. But in that brief time, you're witnessing the power of the scientific method. That one little stick lets you ask a question, perform a controlled experiment,
Video examples
Killer Whale vs. Sea...
about to witness the most primal drama in the natural world crafty predator versus vulnerable prey only this drama has a big surprise ending right now these adorable sea lion pups are protected by a reef that looms
Video examples
Why is Vermeer's "Girl...
a drawn curtain often emphasizes the separation. We can witness a milkmaid serenely pouring a bowl of milk, but that milk isn't for us. We're only onlookers. The studied composition in Vermeer's paintings
Video examples
Sir David Attenborough...
having a significant impact on the world's oceans during the four years it took to make this series we've witnessed many of these changes first hand
Video examples
How to deal with...
this person who had actually witnessed what I knew to be true and it confirmed what I knew so he had said two options suicide or
Video examples
What can Schrödinger's...
Sure, that's easy. The ball will move upward until it gets to some highest point, then it will come back down and land in your hand again. Of course, that's what happens, and you know this because you have witnessed events like this countless times. You've been observing the physics of everyday phenomena your entire life.
Video examples
The five major world...
into a life of luxury. Venturing forth from his sheltered existence as a young man, he witnessed the human suffering that had been hidden from him and immediately set out to investigate its sources. Why must people endure suffering? Must we reincarnate through hundreds of lives? At first he thought the problem
Video examples
Kailash Satyarthi: How...
and the first tear of joy rolls down on her cheek, I see the glimpse of God in it -- this is my biggest inspiration. And I am so lucky that not once, as I said before, but thousands of times, I have been able to witness my God in the faces of those children and they are my biggest inspirations.
Video examples
Filming Antarctica's...
but they had never they'd never really witnessed you know kind of really what happened we also knew that there was a melt pool quite drastically forming above where we were working every day the sun sun's influence was getting more and more the surface of the ice in some areas especially
Video examples
ONE HOUR Of Amazing...
towards the ice and just creating these waves and it was just it was incredible it was really amazing we'd all witnessed something that no one had ever seen before ever and it just felt like this total window onto another world and another time and place
Video examples
How do pregnancy tests...
A few minutes can feel like forever when you're waiting on the results of a pregnancy test. But in that brief time, you're witnessing the power of the scientific method. That one little stick lets you ask a question, perform a controlled experiment,
Video examples
Killer Whale vs. Sea...
about to witness the most primal drama in the natural world crafty predator versus vulnerable prey only this drama has a big surprise ending right now these adorable sea lion pups are protected by a reef that looms
Video examples
Why is Vermeer's "Girl...
a drawn curtain often emphasizes the separation. We can witness a milkmaid serenely pouring a bowl of milk, but that milk isn't for us. We're only onlookers. The studied composition in Vermeer's paintings
Video examples
Sir David Attenborough...
having a significant impact on the world's oceans during the four years it took to make this series we've witnessed many of these changes first hand
Video examples
How to deal with...
this person who had actually witnessed what I knew to be true and it confirmed what I knew so he had said two options suicide or
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Isaac Wright Jr.
Even on the witness stand at trial, there were people up there and I had no clue who they were. I had never seen them a day in my life and they were pointing the finger at me saying that I was their boss.
Quote examples
Francia Raisa
American Actress
I'm glad I went through all the normal teenage dramas that a lot of people go through. I can really relate to 'Secret Life' because I witnessed those similar struggles.
Quote examples
Jane Rule
Canadian Author
If we don't bear witness as citizens, as people, as individuals, the right that we have had to life is sacrificed. There is a silence, instead of a speaking presence.
Quote examples
J. H. Wyman
American Actor
My favorite novels allow me to imagine the characters afterward and what happened, and that I've witnessed a really great story, where the world goes on.
Quote examples
Gates McFadden
American Actress
Life is so fast these days, and we're exposed to so much information. Television makes us a witness to such misery.
Quote examples
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
French Writer
Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
Quote examples
Simon Wiesenthal
Austrian Activist
Discovering witnesses is just as important as catching criminals.
Quote examples
Pindar
Greek Poet
The days that are still to come are the wisest witnesses.
Quote examples
Herta Muller
German Novelist
I write in order to bear witness to life.
Quote examples
Lisa Kristine
American Photographer
I see myself as a witness to humanity.
Quote examples
Isaac Wright Jr.
Even on the witness stand at trial, there were people up there and I had no clue who they were. I had never seen them a day in my life and they were pointing the finger at me saying that I was their boss.
Quote examples
Francia Raisa
American Actress
I'm glad I went through all the normal teenage dramas that a lot of people go through. I can really relate to 'Secret Life' because I witnessed those similar struggles.
Quote examples
Jane Rule
Canadian Author
If we don't bear witness as citizens, as people, as individuals, the right that we have had to life is sacrificed. There is a silence, instead of a speaking presence.
Quote examples
J. H. Wyman
American Actor
My favorite novels allow me to imagine the characters afterward and what happened, and that I've witnessed a really great story, where the world goes on.
Quote examples
Gates McFadden
American Actress
Life is so fast these days, and we're exposed to so much information. Television makes us a witness to such misery.
Quote examples
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
French Writer
Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
Quote examples
Simon Wiesenthal
Austrian Activist
Discovering witnesses is just as important as catching criminals.
Quote examples
Pindar
Greek Poet
The days that are still to come are the wisest witnesses.
Quote examples
Herta Muller
German Novelist
I write in order to bear witness to life.
Quote examples
Lisa Kristine
American Photographer
I see myself as a witness to humanity.
Example 1 of 10
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