witness-box
noun
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witness-box
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witness box
witness boxnounthe place in a court of law in which witnesses stand to give evidence
witness-box
American
[wit-nis-boks]
/ ˈwɪt nɪsˌbɒks /
noun
Chiefly British.
witness box
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of witness-box
First recorded in 1800–10
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.
See Examples For:
Every character is part of a carefully arranged witness-box cast, and the arrangement is too deliberate ly designed to give both sides of the story.
From Time Magazine Archive
His handling of his client in the witness-box had been masterly.
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
A bit late now, I think, but only because he’s down there and I’m up here, in the safety of the witness-box.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
"I knew from the first that you were innocent," she wrote, "and if I had been called I intended to say so in the witness-box."
From Lord John in New York by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
Walter Dene stepped, pale and haggard still, into the witness-box.
From Strange Stories by Grant Allen
In recent years, Harry has sued three different UK newspapers, becoming the first senior royal in over a century to enter the witness box as he won settlements from two.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Prince Harry flew in to give evidence in person, spending two hours in the witness box.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Actor Liz Hurley on Thursday broke down in tears in the witness box of London's High Court as she accused a tabloid publisher of "monstrous" conduct including planting secret microphones on her home windows.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
Prince Harry was visibly emotional in the witness box as he said the publisher made the life of his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, "an absolute misery".
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026
From the moment she took her place in the witness box, she caused a stir.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
