[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/hearsay/)

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# hearsay

noun (hearsay — uncountable)

«hearsay» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Things you have heard from other people but do not know are true; rumour. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#m1)
2. (law) Evidence in court about what someone else said, not what the witness saw themselves; it is often not allowed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#m2)

### In the lessons

In everyday life it warns that a story is gossip; in law and history lessons it is weak evidence. Phrases: it's just hearsay, based on hearsay, hearsay evidence.

### Examples

- That's just hearsay, nobody actually saw it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#x1)
- You shouldn't believe hearsay about people. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#x2)
- The judge said the statement was hearsay. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#x3)
- The story spread round school by hearsay. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#x4)
- Is this a fact or just hearsay? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#x5)
- Good journalists check facts instead of printing hearsay. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/#x6)

### Note

Uncountable. From hear + say. Checking sources is the way to tell fact from hearsay.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hearsay» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hearsay/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hearsay» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hearsay.html) on Mova free.