witness stand
46
3.9
- noun
- /ˈwɪtnəs stænd/
- US
:
banquillo de los testigos
- During the trial, he nervously approached the witness stand to give his testimony.
- sit in the witness stand
And, you know, one of the interesting moments in the trial is when my client is on the witness stand.
- And, you know, one of the interesting moments in the trial is when my client is on the witness stand.
- And then she is assaulted by a colleague who she works with and she ends up being in the witness stand.
- And then they get on the witness stand and they all and they all say how I never had time for them.
Examples
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Mr. Loewen, you may not leave the witness stand unless you're excused by me.
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And then they get on the witness stand and they all and they all say how I never had time for them.
-
The lawyer asked him on the witness stand, "Can you point to the man who followed her out?"
Fiction book (1994) -
We call Sam Miller to the witness stand.
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You'll call me up to the witness stand before the trial ends.
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They all know someone like me is more dangerous on the witness stand than on the streets.
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Wouldn't a good DA like to have you on a witness stand?
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THE BLACKOUT DURING THE SENTENCING PHASE, Abdur-Rahman took the witness stand to plead for his life.
Academic text (2011) -
The lawyer asked the witness to take the witness stand and share her account of the events.
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She swore to tell the truth before taking her place on the witness stand.
Synonyms
4
4.2
An enclosed area in a courtroom where a person sits to tell the judge or jury what they saw
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'witness' (person who testifies) with 'stand' (a place or platform): it denotes the place where a witness stands to give evidence. This noun–noun composition is a common, transparent pattern (cross-linguistically often rendered as 'witness box/stand'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The compound witness stand comes from the literal image of a witness standing on a stand, a small raised area in the court where the person goes to speak. That's why it means the small place in court where someone 'gives evidence' or 'testifies'.