Definition of "evidence" []

• A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment: The broken window was evidence that a burglary had taken place. Scientists weigh the evidence for and against a hypothesis. (noun)
• Something indicative; an outward sign: evidence of grief on a mourner's face. (noun)
• Law The documentary or oral statements and the material objects admissible as testimony in a court of law. (noun)
• To indicate clearly; exemplify or prove. (verb-transitive)
• To support by testimony; attest. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And the accumulation of evidence –not just your and my anecdotal evidence– suggests that this is true."
• "But  remember now, there is some hair evidence and there's some fiber evidence  in some of these cases."
• "If there are any who imagine, that positive and direct evidence is absolutely necessary to conviction, they are much mistaken; it is a mistake, I believe, very common with those who commit offences: they fancy that they are secure because they are not seen at the moment; but you may prove their guilt as conclusively, perhaps even more satisfactorily, by _circumstantial evidence_, as by any _direct evidence_ that can possibly be given."