An eyewitness is a person who was present at an event and can therefore describe it, for example in a law court.
Eyewitnesses say the police then opened fire on the crowd.
...dramatic eye-witness accounts of the fighting.
Synonyms: observer, witness, spectator, looker-on More Synonyms of eyewitness
eyewitness in British English
(ˈaɪˌwɪtnɪs)
noun
a.
a person present at an event who can describe what happened
b.
(as modifier)
an eyewitness account
eyewitness in American English
(ˈaɪˌwɪtnɪs)
noun
1.
a person who sees or has seen something happen, as an accident, crime, etc.
2.
a person who testifies to what he or she has seen
Examples of 'eyewitness' in a sentence
eyewitness
This has always been taken as an eyewitness account of what actually went on.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
How do they distinguish between wild rumour and a genuine account from an eyewitness?
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Dozens of eyewitness accounts were published at the time.
Christianity Today (2000)
But the most useful piece in the jigsaw is an eyewitness account.
The Sun (2015)
But the key piece of evidence is an eyewitness account of your seizure.
The Sun (2009)
But eyewitness accounts and her autopsy suggest otherwise.
The Sun (2013)
The first eyewitness reports of election fraud came shortly after the polls opened.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
An eyewitness reports that the ground moves in vast waves while the stars seem to stand still.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
They were based on the sketches or accounts of at least one eyewitness.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
There is one eyewitness account that suggests they might have been.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There will be no more eyewitness accounts of the Somme.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It was News at Ten that pioneered the idea of eyewitness reporting.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
In other languages
eyewitness
British English: eyewitness NOUN
An eyewitness is a person who was present at an event and can therefore describe it, for example in a law court.
Eyewitnesses have told me that the thatched roof caught fire and fell over people's heads, said Santhana Krishnan, a state agricultural officer whose aunt and uncle were injured at the wedding and were in intensive care at a private hospital.
American English: eyewitness
Brazilian Portuguese: testemunha
Chinese: 目击者
European Spanish: testigo
French: témoin
German: Augenzeuge
Italian: testimone oculare
Japanese: 目撃者
Korean: 목격자
European Portuguese: testemunha
Latin American Spanish: testigo
(noun)
Definition
a person present at an event who can describe what happened
Eyewitnesses say that the thieves were armed.
Synonyms
observer
A casual observer would have assumed they were siblings.
witness
No witnesses of the crash have come forward.
spectator
Thirty thousand spectators watched the final game.
looker-on
viewer
The series is watched by around 19 million viewers every week.
passer-by
A passer-by described what had happened.
watcher
A perceptive watcher would have realised something was wrong.