eyewitness

[ noun ahy-wit-nis, ahy-wit-nis; verb ahy-wit-nis ]

/ noun ˈaɪˌwɪt nɪs, ˈaɪˈwɪt nɪs; verb ˈaɪˌwɪt nɪs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR eyewitness ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who actually sees some act, occurrence, or thing and can give a firsthand account of it: There were two eyewitnesses to the murder.

verb (used with object)

to view with one's own eyes: to eyewitness a murder.

Nearby words

eyewash, eyewater, eyewear, eyewink, eyewinker, eyewitness, eyne, eyot, eyra, eyre, eyre peninsula

Origin of eyewitness

First recorded in 1530–40; eye + witness

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for eyewitness

Obama said, through laughter, according to an eyewitness report of the meeting in The Telegraph.
When Your Royalty Met Ours: Kate Meets Bey Courtside|Tom Sykes|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mr Obama said, through laughter, according to an eyewitness report of the meeting in The Telegraph.
Kate Middleton and Prince William's $2m Dinner|Tom Sykes|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One eyewitness reported seeing the police force students out of another bus at gunpoint.
Anatomy of a Mexican Student Massacre|Jason McGahan|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With them go our only eyewitness accounts of the real effects of nuclear war.
Truman’s Grandson & Japan’s A-Bomb Survivors: A Story of Reconciliation|Clifton Truman Daniel|August 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Their hub is an aggregate of photographs and eyewitness reports taken by hundreds of collectives.
Brazil’s World Cup Is An Expensive, Exploitative Nightmare|Vac Verikaitis|May 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An eyewitness says of these martyrs to liberty: "They behaved with firmness, evincing no hesitation or trepidation whatever."
Kentucky in American Letters, v. 2 of 2|John Wilson Townsend
The extent, nevertheless, to which he speaks as an eyewitness, renders his work very valuable.
The Age of Dryden|Richard Garnett
There was a glorious crash coming, and for his part he meant to be an eyewitness.
The Best Short Stories of 1919|Various
I can also give you a description of the siege, having been an eyewitness of the same.
Soyer's Culinary Campaign|Alexis Soyer
That the narrative bears evidence of having been written by an eyewitness is to my own mind clear.
Who Wrote the Bible?|Washington Gladden

British Dictionary definitions for eyewitness

eyewitness

/ (ˈaɪˌwɪtnɪs) /

noun

a person present at an event who can describe what happened
(as modifier)an eyewitness account

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012