Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: LAW

evidence

1 noun
     
ev‧i‧dence1 S3 W1
1 [uncountable] facts or signs that show clearly that something exists or is true
evidence of
At present we have no evidence of life on other planets.
evidence for
There is no evidence for these claims.
evidence that
Do you have evidence that this treatment works?
They had failed to provide evidence of sufficient financial backing.
clear/strong/good evidence
There is now clear evidence that these chemicals are damaging the environment.
medical/scientific etc evidence
Medical evidence shows that men are more likely to have heart attacks than women.
The study produced one interesting piece of evidence.
There is not a shred of evidence to support the theory.
2 [uncountable]SCL information that is given in a court of law in order to prove that someone is guilty or not guilty:
Murrow's evidence was enough to convict Hayes of murder.
He refused to give evidence at the trial.
evidence against
There was very little evidence against the two men.
in evidence
The documents may be used in evidence at the trial.
3

be in evidence

formal to be present and easily seen or noticed:
The police are always in evidence at football matches.
➔ king's evidence, Queen's evidence, State's evidenceWORD FOCUS: police WORD FOCUS: police
people in the police force: police officer, policeman, policewoman, detective, cop informal
the building where the police work: police station
what the police do: investigate crimes, find/collect evidence, arrest people who they think are guilty of a crime, question/interrogate people about crimes, hold/detain people in custody, charge people with crimes, release people if they are innocent

➔ See also police
Definition of evidence from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic LAW
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