How to Use bystander in a Sentence

bystander

noun
  • Two innocent bystanders were injured in the shooting.
  • No cars or bystanders were hit.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 14 Apr. 2026
  • So what did the person do to alert bystanders?
    — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The man was pulled from the water by bystanders.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 1 June 2026
  • Zarutska bled to death on a train car full of bystanders.
    — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The scene was captured on video by a bystander.
    — Jade Jackson, IndyStar, 19 Feb. 2026
  • The leagues and media are more than just bystanders.
    — John Affleck, The Conversation, 27 Oct. 2025
  • None of the shots hit the targets, but one grazed a bystander.
    — Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 23 June 2025
  • Once down, bystanders quickly rushed to his aid.
    — Los Angeles Times, Boston Herald, 8 June 2026
  • That’s about when the bystander video picked up the encounter.
    — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2021
  • Tisch warned bystanders not to approach him.
    — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The suspects then were said to have forced him to the ground as bystanders ran away.
    — Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 10 July 2024
  • Smith was able to escape and reach the shore, where three bystanders heard his cries for help.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026
  • To a bystander, a graph may be a line that shows the progress of a sales metric over time.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 2 May 2023
  • The episode was taped by a bystander and appeared on the local news.
    — Francine Kiefer, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Sep. 2020
  • One cop turns to a man in a blue shirt, an unidentified bystander.
    — Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025
  • Locals and bystanders ran for cover as the fire spread.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 3 June 2026
  • The bystander video of Floyd’s death was in vivid, clear color.
    — Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2021
  • That could even include bystanders.
    — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 13 Mar. 2026
  • An unnamed male bystander who was sitting in front of the bar was shot in the hand.
    — David Matthews, New York Daily News, 30 July 2024
  • Tony says no bystanders were hurt and his deputies have only minor cuts and scrapes.
    — S.e. Jenkins, CBS News, 30 June 2026
  • The bystander drove off, but called the police anyway.
    — Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
  • In the first video, the fight begins to break up as a Black bystander joins in.
    — Jeremy Gray | , al, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Albertville police at the time said he was caught with the aid of a bystander who chased him.
    — William Thornton | [email protected], al, 26 Aug. 2021
  • Now, an innocent bystander has lost their life.
    — Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 17 Feb. 2026
  • The bystander was shot once in the leg on Wyckoff Ave.
    — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • While the bystanders were trying to break the glass, the car caught fire and began to smoke.
    — Matt Schooley, CBS News, 18 May 2026
  • Because that's not what any of us are seeing in any of the bystander videos that have been made.
    — Steve Inskeep, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025
  • And face it, Kyle is at a price point where there has to be more than passive bystander.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 21 Oct. 2022
  • But the ones who suffer most of all are the innocent bystanders.
    — Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bystander.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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