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# witness

«witness» in Mova's school dictionary: **a person who sees something happen, especially an…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a witness, witnesses); verb (witness, witnesses, witnessed, witnessing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A witness is a person who sees something happen, especially an accident or a crime. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#m1)

2) A witness is a person who tells a court what they know or saw. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#m2)

3) A witness is a person who watches someone sign an important paper and then signs it too. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#m3)

4) (verb) To witness something means to see it happen: "we witnessed a rainbow over the sea". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories and crime tales, detectives question witnesses to find out what happened. In safety lessons, if you witness an accident, tell a grown-up or call for help. Phrases: eye witness (eyewitness), witness box (UK) or witness stand (USA), bear witness, witness statement.

### examples

- A witness saw the car go through the red light. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x1)
- The detective spoke to three witnesses. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x2)
- She was called as a witness in court. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x3)
- We witnessed an amazing sunset. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x4)
- My aunt signed as a witness to the will. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x5)
- Did anyone witness the accident? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x6)
- Five people saw it, so there were 5 witnesses. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x7)
- It was a terrible sight for a little girl to witness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/#x8)

### note

Plural: witnesses (add -es). Past: witnessed. In the UK the witness stands in the "witness box"; in the USA on the "witness stand". An eyewitness saw it with their own eyes.

### In the corpora

- [The first witness is the Hatter, still holding his teacup and bread-and-butter.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/21-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-1/10/)
- [The next witness is the Duchess's cook, carrying her pepper-box, and everyone near the door starts sneezing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/9/)
- [The King, relieved, asks the Queen to question the next witness, as it makes his forehead ache.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/12/)
- [The King says to the Queen: «you must cross-examine the next witness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/32/)
- [A witness should say only what they really saw and heard, not guesses or what others said.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/384-when-the-police-come/28/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «witness» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/witness/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.