I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a key witness (= someone who can give important information about a crime )
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She will be a key witness in the murder trial.
expert witness
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He appeared as an expert witness before several government inquiries.
Jehovah's Witness
witness an event (= see it happen )
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Luckily, a film crew were on the spot to witness the event.
witness box
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
expert
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He appeared as an expert witness before several government inquiries, and was a commissioner on that investigating mine safety in 1882.
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First, the expert witness must be paid for his time.
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The Court agreed with the Special Commissioner over the admissibility of the evidence of the taxpayer's expert witness .
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Ask a pathologist, find an expert witness .
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However, strong opposition resulted in rejection of this Bill despite his excellent testimony as an expert witness .
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These investigators have routinely been allowed to testify at criminal trials as expert witnesses , offering what appeared to be scientific data.
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However, the admissibility of such evidence was questioned when the Crown cross-questioned Professor Macleod, an expert witness for the trustees.
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Then he left it up to his expert witnesses to explain why none of it could be trusted.
key
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Most of the key witnesses have long since skipped the country.
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And Graham Gooch's first lieutenant Stewart, the Surrey skipper, will be a key witness at a committee of inquiry.
only
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Marek Nowak was the only witness to Taczek's confession to the murder of Mills.
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If they are the only witness to deal with a vital issue then you will have no alternative but to call them.
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These traces not only witness to a sad history, but also hint of glorious possibilities.
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The only witnesses had been Sarah's stepmother, and an ecclesiastic colleague who envied him his good fortune.
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The only witness to the robbery had met his demise possibly due to the blows to his head sustained during the robbery.
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Was she going to be left as the only witness ?
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A bottle of Bell's was the only witness of his lowest moods.
potential
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Several potential witnesses have already called the incident room at Cheapside.
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Neither is to have contact with witnesses , potential witnesses, Cosby, his family or his representatives.
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Police are still trying to trace a potential witness seen by a jogger on the canal towpath behind Mr Miles home.
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My mind was already working. Potential witnesses .
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Police say they've already contacted several potential witnesses and this afternoon they recovered the getaway car, a Sierra Cosworth.
principal
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And he said there was now further evidence to discredit a principal witness in the case as a liar and a cheat.
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The prosecution dropped the charges in 1976, announcing that the principal witness was too ill to ever testify.
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What took place has to be reconstructed with the principal witness for the prosecution being unavailable.
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There was evidentially speaking a head-on collision between the appellant and the principal prosecution witness .
star
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The police switched to regarding her as completely innocent and she became the star witness .
■ NOUN
box
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Evidence depends upon witnesses and, to some extent, their credibility is dependent upon their performance in the witness box .
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As it was, when she left the witness box she also left everyone in court in considerable doubt.
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As the Inspector stepped out of the witness box I felt confident enough to look him straight in the eye.
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However, his appearance in the witness box in support of Gary Blissett in the John Uzzell case was plain barmy.
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Hodgson was in the witness box yesterday for the first time in the trial - now in its fifth week.
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Paul Menzies left the dock and walked slowly over to the witness box .
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However, the theme of attempting to discredit the woman in the witness box continues.
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Graham Kelly should be putting his own house in order, not making guest appearances in the witness box .
character
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I shall not be a character witness at your trial, believe me.
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If he had not been the prosecutor, he said, he would have agreed to be a character witness .
defence
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The proceedings began in their customary stately way and then a Colonel Beelitz was called as a defence witness .
eye
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There are letters, drawings, contemporary photographs, eye witness accounts.
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It's the testimony of an eye witness , plain and simple.
prosecution
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It was curious, Julia thought, to hear the chief prosecution witness speaking so forcefully in favour of the defendant.
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The women testified as prosecution witnesses in the penalty phase of his murder trial.
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During the trial, over thirty prosecution witnesses were called.
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During the four-month trial, two prosecution witnesses were killed and two others wounded.
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At his trial, Christie was the chief prosecution witness .
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McCarthy has been a prosecution witness against Stedeford in Des Moines and at a pretrial hearing here against Langan.
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To his right was a heavy curtain behind which prosecution witnesses could be concealed.
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After the last prosecution witness had given his statement, Kesselring's defence counsel rose to give his opening address.
stand
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The event that would eclipse it began only after Kenneff left the witness stand , and court adjourned for lunch.
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When it came time for my client to testify, he took the witness stand in his bib overalls.
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Kenneff had taken the witness stand soon after court convened.
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As he did during his first turn on the witness stand in 1993, Erik wore crew-neck sweaters and light-colored shirts.
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Simpson, who did not testify in the criminal trial, spent several days on the witness stand in the civil trial.
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But the most controversial is expected to be called to the witness stand .
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Defense attorneys have indicated that they will not put Lyle on the witness stand for the retrial.
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Simpson, who declined to testify last time, spent several days on the witness stand .
statement
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The prospect of lengthy pleadings, disclosure and witness statements must have been unappealing, to say the least.
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Exchange of witness statements is to be the norm in all actions, not just personal injury actions.
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The pictures were drawn after piecing together numerous witness statements .
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The case dominated the front pages of newspapers at the time and 2,000 witness statements were taken.
■ VERB
appeal
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Milton Keynes police have set up an incident room and they're appealing for any witnesses .
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Police are appealing for witnesses and would also like to speak to anyone who was at the club last night.
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Police have appealed for witnesses who may have been in the area to come forward.
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Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident to contact them.
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Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident, which happened about 8:30am.
call
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Defense attorneys rested their case last week after calling just one witness .
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They were denied legal counsel or the right to call witnesses in their defence.
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I saw more of human agony and woe than l trust I will ever again be called on to witness .
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He may also be called as a witness by any other party.
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But the most controversial is expected to be called to the witness stand.
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Was I called as a witness ?
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The prosecution is expected to call more than 70 witnesses , mostly people who say they were victims at Celebici.
interview
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Police are interviewing a number of witnesses .
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It will feature an interior bathroom and a separate room for privately interviewing witnesses , victims and suspects.
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I have been there usually to interview a witness , but the sights are chilling.
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I am looking at some notes I took one day when I was interviewing witnesses .
testify
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The women testified as prosecution witnesses in the penalty phase of his murder trial.
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He sits on the stand testifying as a witness .
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Erik testified on the witness stand that his father sexually abused him from age 6 until days before the killings.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
bear witness/testimony to sth
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Photographs taken in 1904 bear witness to the extent of these repairs.
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Punta Banda's ghostly streets, vacant houses and shuttered hotel bear testimony to dreams gone sour.
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Sparrow's books bear witness to his movement in the most exclusive circles.
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The current trial of Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 persons bears witness to that.
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The human genome bears witness to this process, too.
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The Renaissance bears witness to a sociology, a psychology of joy.
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They bear witness to the precious quality of the embryo and the birth process.
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They alone bear witness to uneasiness and possible stress.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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In court, a witness said he had seen O'Grady punch the woman in the face.
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Police are appealing for witnesses to an arson attack on an apartment block.
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The witness was asked to identify the defendant in the courtroom.
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The congressman was called as a witness for the prosecution today.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Evidence depends upon witnesses and, to some extent, their credibility is dependent upon their performance in the witness box.
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He is not entirely worthless as a witness .
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Moreover, a witness had obligations.
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Scores of equally distinguished witnesses gave similar testimony.
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The witnesses would say later that the searingly brilliant white flash seemed to last for several seconds.
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The Court agreed with the Special Commissioner over the admissibility of the evidence of the taxpayer's expert witness .
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
actually
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He actually witnessed the death of the last animal in his study group.
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When we actually witness the nitty-gritty details of a school day, we can anticipate the problems our child may have.
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Ken didn't actually witness either the murder or the suicide.
just
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He found it difficult to reconcile the opulence he had just witnessed with the poverty of some of the surrounding districts.
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I felt as if I had just witnessed the end of the world.
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It had seemed to us like certain death from the beginning of this hideous drama we had just witnessed .
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Relieved, she now felt the full and shocking weight of what she had just witnessed .
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What we have just witnessed is the importance of having a very specific objective.
never
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Such a sight as the chapel of Redruth afforded, and the other towns and parishes in succession was never witnessed here.
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For his part, Mayor Miller says he plays racquetball, and thus has never witnessed Thoreson sharing the greens with developers.
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But I have never witnessed anything so triumphantly awful as Notre Dame, Fourviere.
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Personally, I never witnessed such an event.
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Here was a footballer the like of which the Whaddon faithful had never witnessed before.
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I never witnessed an adult raise his or her hand, or even voice, to a child.
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I never witnessed a serious quarrel or observed anyone I would describe as angry.
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He had never witnessed anything so electrifying.
■ NOUN
accident
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Police in Lurgan want anyone who witnessed the accident to contact them on 0762-325144.
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His two sons Graham, aged eight, and Craig, six, witnessed the accident .
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She joined the Red Cross after witnessing a horse riding accident .
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Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to contact police at Portadown 332424.
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Mr Woods' teenage daughter Michelle, who'd gone with him on the trip, witnessed the accident .
birth
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We are witnessing the birth of a civilization which nurtures ideas and creativity precisely because it is so rich in diversity.
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If problems are anticipated a statement from some one who witnessed the birth is good evidence.
century
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The first decade of the twentieth century witnessed the polarization of these positions under the impact of growing political activism.
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The middle years of the nineteenth century witnessed a continued preoccupation with the consequences of urbanisation.
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The early 1990s - not the twenty-first century - will witness this breakthrough.
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The late nineteenth century witnessed a heightening of this process.
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The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed a repetition of this process.
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The twentieth century has witnessed the realisation of these objectives, perhaps even beyond the horizons of Paracelsus's fertile imagination.
change
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Mourning dress, too, was witnessing a change .
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I was witnessing a change or perhaps the destruction of a character.
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We are witnessing the third change in three years, a change that will produce further misery and confusion.
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The early 1980s witnessed a radical change in patterns of heroin taking, alongside the global increase.
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Recent years have witnessed a sea change in the fortunes of car safety as a marketable quantity.
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But we do not have to go back to prehistoric times to witness the change in our diet.
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The early 1980s witnessed dramatic changes in Sheffield's economy.
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Recent years have also witnessed changes in the overall structure of art education courses.
death
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He actually witnessed the death of the last animal in his study group.
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The Great War had witnessed the death of a world and a world order.
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Fernand had witnessed death , but he was not a violent man.
event
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Her life had witnessed many remarkable events .
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Emily had, by age eighteen, witnessed stirring and historic events .
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We witness a number of events from several points of view.
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Observers in the Naples area witness the event .
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She had witnessed this event before.
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Happened all the time, women witnessing events that deformed their unborn children.
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Personally, I never witnessed such an event .
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From 1849 Newgrange was excavated enough for anyone to witness this yearly event .
execution
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Benjamin remained locked in the sombre mood which had dogged him since he had witnessed Buckingham's execution .
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They were the first Texans to witness the execution of their loved ones' killer.
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A thousand people, mostly men, gathered around the grate one day last spring to witness a double execution .
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Those friends, who were not identified, were invited by Bonin to witness the execution .
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I will write about witnessing the execution in a special Saturday column.
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Felicity was forced to witness each execution , then was beheaded.
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Ramos said Bonin invited five guests to witness the execution , but their identities are being withheld.
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It is an odd feeling, knowing that soon you will witness a public execution .
growth
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They had witnessed a steady growth in circulation and were well satisfied with their achievements, even hopeful that things would improve.
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In fact the Ganges delta is witnessing a continued net growth in its surface area.
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Great Britain is not alone in witnessing a growth in local government expenditure.
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In general, the picture is a positive one with many industries witnessing a growth in exports.
incident
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According to journalists who witnessed the incident , up to eight people were killed and 20 others seriously injured.
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Diplomatic sources who witnessed the incident said he was driven off at speed in a police convoy and his whereabouts are unknown.
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You have witnessed some appalling incident .
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They are anxious to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the incident .
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The way I and others who witnessed the incident feel now is that Ian Woosnam's game is well over par.
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Like the other servants who had witnessed the incident , I just looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
murder
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Then one night in an alleyway he witnesses a murder and finds himself lumbered with the dead man's child.
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You are dealing with people who brought their children to witness the murder of black human beings, falsely accused of rape.
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Ken didn't actually witness either the murder or the suicide.
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You read it in the papers: it could ruin you for life, witnessing a murder .
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The child said he claimed to have witnessed a murder , and had been affected by it.
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Then the gunmen made Tony Franjieh witness the murder of his wife.
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Suppose one or more of those who visited Burford three weeks later had witnessed the murder or knew what Everett had discovered.
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Ingrid joins his harem and witnesses ritual murders .
period
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The post-war period had witnessed the growing professionalisation of the sport.
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Consequently the period after 1979 witnessed a number of major developments with important repercussions for central-local relations.
scene
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Sergo witnessed extraordinary scenes in the Kremlin and at home.
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Why do you have to witness scenes like this over and over again?
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James Bruce had no doubt witnessed similar scenes in the 1760s when victorious armies returned in triumph to Gondar.
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Whichever parent witnessed the scene automatically became the referee.
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As a very young child he witnessed scenes which equalled anything from the imagination of Rider Haggard.
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She had herself witnessed a scene whose disclosure could cause trouble.
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Sometimes he appears to have witnessed a scene from the past.
signature
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I witnessed Kennedy's signature on the Friday.
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She simply produced the documents, Mr. O'Brien signed and she witnessed his signature .
spectacle
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But Bobby just sat there with a wolfish grin as guests moved in to witness the spectacle .
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Thousands camped around the village to witness the spectacle .
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With the winter season at its height, thousands crowded into the two Niagara communities to witness the spectacle .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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It is not legal unless the pastor witnesses the marriage license.
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Police are appealing for information from anyone who witnessed the attack.
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The crash was witnessed by millions of viewers who were watching the race on TV.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A stock index does not oscillate with such frightening amplitude as we have witnessed recently unless to announce some tectonic change ahead.
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But Bobby just sat there with a wolfish grin as guests moved in to witness the spectacle.
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He has seen World Series and traveled to witness Opening Day in a handful of major-league cities.
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How often we have witnessed such hubris, and how loudly we have guffawed.
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I witnessed the Coventry versus Ipswich match recently.
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Meanwhile, on the passenger front, the four-mile Sanderstead-Elmers End line witnessed funereal acts on 13 May 1983.
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The crash was witnessed by scores of holiday weekenders along the beach.