Meaning & use
witness stand
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
The place in a courtroom where a person sits or stands to answer questions and give evidence.
Grammar: Usually used with the: take the witness stand.
Patterns
- take the witness stand
- on the witness stand
The detective took the witness stand and described the evidence.
She was nervous on the witness stand, but answered every question clearly.
The lawyer called the first expert to the witness stand.
Word forms
| plural | witness stands |
|---|
Common combinations
- take the witness stand
- The defendant chose to take the witness stand.
- on the witness stand
- He broke down on the witness stand.
- step down from the witness stand
- The doctor stepped down from the witness stand after two hours.
- call someone to the witness stand
- The prosecutor called her to the witness stand.
- sworn in on the witness stand
- She was sworn in on the witness stand before testifying.
Synonyms and how they differ
- witness box
- Witness box is the British equivalent and means the same place, but is less common in American English.
- stand
- Stand alone is shorter and common in American courts, where lawyers say 'take the stand'.
- dock
- The dock is where the accused person sits in some courts, not where witnesses give evidence.
Word family
Commonly confused: witness stand or defendant's table?
witness stand vs defendant's table
The defendant sits at a table with a lawyer, while the witness stand is where anyone giving evidence sits.
Practice
The lawyer asked the judge for permission to recall the doctor to the ___.
Choose one answer.
Witnesses give evidence from the witness stand. The dock is for the accused person in some courts, which is a tempting but wrong option.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “witness stand”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.