What's the difference between onlooker and witness?

Onlooker


Definition:

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Told him we'll waive VAT on #BandAid30 so every penny goes to fight Ebola November 15, 2014 Thousands of onlookers turned out to watch the arrival of artists including One Direction, Paloma Faith, Disclosure, Jessie Ware, Ellie Goulding and Clean Bandit at Sarm studios in Notting Hill, west London .
  • (2) I don’t think, at least in Iowa, her almost celebrity status over some of the others gets her any type of advantage.” Palin confused many onlookers with the directions taken in her remarks, which featured a freewheeling preamble of almost 10 minutes – half the time allotted to each speaker.
  • (3) Other onlookers shivered, recalling Iglesias’s praise for Venezuela’s late president Hugo Chávez and fearing an eruption of Latin American-style populism in a country gripped by debt, austerity and unemployment.
  • (4) Two witnesses said they thought the gorilla was trying to protect the boy at first, before getting spooked by the screams of onlookers.
  • (5) Onlookers quickly realised there were hundreds of thousands of servers – and Google was making them itself from spare parts.
  • (6) In the footage a number of police officers can be seen as a group of people, said to be his friends, attempt to obscure him from the view of onlookers filming the star on their mobile phones.
  • (7) Driving home after dining out with friends, he'd seen the burning car surrounded by onlookers, fire fighters and police, but could never have imagined what the scene signified.
  • (8) Madonna told onlookers: “Everybody knows why we’re here … we just want to sing a few songs about peace, just to spread love and joy, and to pay our honour and respect to the people who died almost four weeks ago.
  • (9) One worker leaving the office yelled out to the onlookers: "You're watching history, man."
  • (10) When they try to rise, they are kicked in the face and left unconscious before onlookers come to their aid.
  • (11) Onlookers reported seeing the plane flying low before smashing into a field and coming to a standstill with its nose in the River Stour near the village of Throop.
  • (12) Some of the games are based around recognisable sports (like football), others around ancient samurai conflicts – but whatever the theme, the nature of the action is absolutely impenetrable to the casual onlooker.
  • (13) "I have no doubt she was scared," the onlooker told the Sunday People.
  • (14) RSA’s excuses have convinced some onlookers, others remain sceptical.
  • (15) We shouldn’t be passive onlookers to Trump’s pantomime presidency any longer.
  • (16) He arrived in court wearing sunglasses, smiled and waved at onlookers, and seemed relaxed – perhaps hopeful that today's proceedings would secure his release.
  • (17) Watched by a quiet, oddly tense crowd of onlookers, the couple looked almost unbearably young and vulnerable – as if, one observer joked, on their way to the guillotine.
  • (18) Several onlookers believe a riot policeman caught her when she jumped, but Adrian insisted he caught her.
  • (19) Liverpool, with five points out of six games, left it too late and will be jealous onlookers when the Champions League resumes in February.
  • (20) I have such pale legs and they never burn!” I insouciantly declared to onlookers, a mere 12 hours before I began convulsing, shaking, sweating and finding myself unable to walk for three days.

Witness


Definition:

  • (v. i.) Attestation of a fact or an event; testimony.
  • (v. i.) That which furnishes evidence or proof.
  • (v. i.) One who is cognizant; a person who beholds, or otherwise has personal knowledge of, anything; as, an eyewitness; an earwitness.
  • (v. i.) One who testifies in a cause, or gives evidence before a judicial tribunal; as, the witness in court agreed in all essential facts.
  • (v. i.) One who sees the execution of an instrument, and subscribes it for the purpose of confirming its authenticity by his testimony; one who witnesses a will, a deed, a marriage, or the like.
  • (v. t.) To see or know by personal presence; to have direct cognizance of.
  • (v. t.) To give testimony to; to testify to; to attest.
  • (v. t.) To see the execution of, as an instrument, and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity; as, to witness a bond or a deed.
  • (v. i.) To bear testimony; to give evidence; to testify.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In a poll before the debate, 48% predicted that Merkel, who will become Europe's longest serving leader if re-elected on 22 September, would emerge as the winner of the US-style debate, while 26% favoured Steinbruck, a former finance minister who is known for his quick-wit and rhetorical skills, but sometimes comes across as arrogant.
  • (2) We are already witnessing a wholly understandable uprising of protest.
  • (3) Among the guests invited to witness the flypast were six second world war RAF pilots, dubbed the “few” by the wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill.
  • (4) Maguire's colleagues rushed to her side, some administering first aid while others held her attacker, witnesses said.
  • (5) That’s when you heard the ‘boom’.” Teto Wilson also claimed to have witnessed the shooting, posting on Facebook on Sunday morning that he and some friends had been at the Elk lodge, outside which the shooting took place.
  • (6) Any party or witness is entitled to use Welsh in any magistrates court in Wales without prior notice.
  • (7) Solzhenitsyn was acknowledged as a "truth-teller" and a witness to the cruelties of Stalinism of unusual power and eloquence.
  • (8) Unfortunately, under the Faustian pact we have witnessed a double whammy: fiscal policy being used to reduce government spending when the economy is already depressed.
  • (9) John Carver witnessed signs of much-needed improvement from the visitors in a purposeful spell either side of the interval but it was not enough to prevent a fifth successive Premier League defeat.
  • (10) Two officers who witnessed the shooting of unarmed 43-year-old Samuel DuBose in Cincinnati will not face criminal charges, despite seemingly corroborating a false claim that DuBose’s vehicle dragged officer Ray Tensing before he was fatally shot.
  • (11) He could be the target of more punishing wit, as when Michael Foot, noting a tendency to be tougher abroad than at home, called him "a belligerent Bertie Wooster without even a Jeeves to restrain him."
  • (12) Thanks to the groundbreaking technology and heavy investment of a new breed of entertainment retailers offering access services, we are witnessing a revolution in the entertainment industry, benefitting consumers, creators and content owners alike.” ERA acts as a forum for the physical and digital retail sectors of music, and represents over 90% of the of the UK’s entertainment retail market.
  • (13) The observed complications were post-labor hemorrhage (3.1%), polysystolia (4.1%) and vomiting (5.2%), without significant difference with the witness group.
  • (14) At one, in the Gun and Dog pub in Leeds on Tuesday, a witness described how the meeting descended into chaos when one of the rebels smashed a glass and threatened to attack Griffin supporter Mark Collett.
  • (15) My mother told me not to cry.” He has since witnessed the transformation of Hagere Selam.
  • (16) Imagine witnessing a game of bridge being played in the Cabinet War Rooms in the year 2072 AD.
  • (17) The contrast between the two plans is best witnessed from the small park between the Trade Centre and the 1930s National Assembly, one of the few survivors of the earthquake.
  • (18) Results indicate that 75% of the participating boys and 10% of participating girls had witnessed the shooting, stabbing, robbing, or killing of another person in their own lives.
  • (19) FWA chairman Andy Dunn said: "Those members who have been fortunate enough to be working at a match involving Luis Suárez have witnessed an astonishing talent first-hand.
  • (20) The main pregnancy resolution was vaginal via; only 6.3% of the study group subjected cesarean section against 10.3% of the witness group and the most frecuent indication was stationary dilation (1 and 8 cases respectively).