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queen's evidence

British

noun

Also called (when the sovereign is male): king's evidence. US equivalent: state's evidence. English law (when the sovereign is female) evidence given for the Crown against his or her former associates in crime by an accomplice (esp in the phrase turn queen's evidence )

"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 one of them was traced, and a reward, together with impunity, was offered to him if he would turn queen’s evidence, and say who had struck down the keeper.

From Dr. Jolliffe's Boys by Feller, Frank

That fellow that turned queen's evidence on the invincibles he used to receive the, Carey was his name, the communion every morning.

From Ulysses by Joyce, James

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