hostile witness

British

noun

a witness who gives evidence against the party calling him

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And hostile witnesses, he said, are “mostly ineffective with jurors.”

From Salon

Prosecutors consider McConney a reluctant witness, and had sought unsuccessfully that he be declared a hostile witness so they could question him more aggressively.

From Reuters

However, District Judge Andrew Sweet said the CPS could compel Mrs Barton to give evidence or treat her as a hostile witness.

From BBC

Frieden eventually declared the teen a hostile witness and allowed Kennedy to ask leading questions.

From Washington Post

Steve Barnes, two years younger than his partner, was a former Marine officer who could eviscerate a hostile witness in the courtroom and struggled to smile through the firm’s marketing campaigns.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023