1
: recorded video material
A camerawoman from Channel 12 shows up to grab some footage for the evening news.—Bari Walsh
Video footage posted online shows him daring an audience member to fight …—Latifah Muhammad
Ramsay uses security footage from inside and outside of the brownstone to detail Joe's actions.—Kyle Turner
The documentary series that presents archival images and film footage in color continues, this week focusing on memorable events from the 1940s.—Kristi Turnquist
2
: length or quantity expressed in feet: such as
b
: the total number of running feet of motion-picture film used (as for a scene or subject)
The people of Hiroshima had a fund-raising campaign to purchase footage from films taken by American photographers … . They calculated they could purchase ten feet of footage for one thousand yen …—Ruth Ann Keyso and Masahide Ota

Examples of footage in a Sentence

Some disturbing footage of the war was shown on the evening news.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Camera footage showed that Lopez’s truck approached the stale green light at 165th Street at a high rate of speed, which changed to yellow as the truck went through the intersection, court records state. — Post-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 Moriarty announced July 13 that state investigators had received hard drives holding officer statements and body camera footage, along with the SUV Good was driving when she was shot. — Ashley Grams, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026 The shooting sparked an intense manhunt, with the NYPD releasing surveillance footage of the suspect and asking the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026 The footage shows a coyote getting some serious air in order to snatch a pear off a tree. — David Hookstead Outkick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for footage

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of footage was in 1842

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Footage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/footage. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Kids Definition

1
: length measured in feet
2
: scenes or action recorded on film or video
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