witness mark

n. generally, an intentional, accidental, or naturally occurring spot, line, groove, or other contrasting area that serves as an indicator of certain facts; in geography and surveying, a blaze, cut, hole, paint splash, or message written on a post, tree, rock or other guide to indicate a boundary, feature, or significant point on land, especially on a witness post; in construction and manufacturing, a line, groove, score, notch, cut, or written indicator made on the surface of material to impart information, such as where to cut or join; in forensic investigation, a surface groove, smear, stain, abrasion or other feature that can serve as evidence. Subjects: English, Construction & Buildings, Police, Jargon

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Citations: [1846 Richard Winter Hamilton Sermons (Leeds) p. 89: “To the poor is the gospel preached.” They are interwove with the witness-mark of Christianity.] 1860 Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress at the Commencement of the Second Session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress (Washington) “Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office” p. 51: As surveys progressed, various improvements were introduced to secure regularity and convenience of description, by the establishment of base-lines, meridians, and standard parallels, through certain permanent natural points, the mouths of rivers…and more recently the summits of mountains,…each of these mountain tops overlooking an immense area, and all constituting monuments and witness posts to endure for all time. 1882 William H. Searles The Railroad Spiral (New York) p. 49: It is extremely important that the points S and L of each spiral should be secured by permanent monuments in the centre of the track, and by witness-posts at the side of the road. The posts should be painted and lettered so that they may serve as guides to the trackmen in their subsequent efforts to grade and “line up” the track. 1900 Richard Henry Stretch Prospecting Locating and Valuing Mines 2 ed., p. 372: Correct form of blaze on trees as witness marks. 1907 M.A. Cuming The Drummer Boy “The Sergeant of the Line”: A man in life’s goodly prime,/Whose visage was dark with the witness mark/Of service in Southern clime. 1908 George Purcell Costigan Jr. Handbook on American Mining Law (St. Paul, Minnesota) p. 257: Where it is impossible to put up and keep a post or monument at the proper place, a witness post or monument may be used. 1909 Joseph Baker Davis Surveying for Beginners (Ann Arbor, Michigan) p. 85: With a rule draw out a witness mark from each saw cut on the surfaced side of the line boards and plainly write there-on a brief designation of what line of the building the saw cut is on, as “Brick Line.” 1988 Jim Galloway Atlanta Journal Constitution (Georgia) (June 20) “Cyclists head home to BRAG again with growing event” p. B/01: Sara Yurman, 33, is a geographer with the Gwinnett County planning department who specializes in mapmaking. She found a “witness post” in the Modoc community, a rare thing, so she said, that showed that Modoc sits 5 feet above sea level. 1988 Aviation Week & Space Technology (Dec. 5) “B-2 Bomber Development New Design, Production Tools Will Play Key Role in B-2 Cost” (in Los Angeles) vol. 129, no. 23, p. 18: Development of a material cutting machine employing an ultrasonic cutting blade that is three times faster than earlier methods. The same equipment automatically marks the material with either witness mark lines or part numbers using an ink-jet process. 1997 James T. Mckenna Aviation Week & Space Technology (Aug. 18) “Guam Probe Targets Weather, Altitude Alert” vol. 147, no. 7, p. 20: Witness marks on the jack screws that drive the flaps and on other data indicate that Flight 801’s flaps had been placed in the landing setting of 30 deg., according to investigators. 1999 Alexander Wu Choo, Maruy Tigner Handbook of Accelerator Physics and Engineering (Mar. 26) p. 447: The laminations can be designed to accommodate flipping, or alternation as noted above, to average out asymmetries. The design should incorporate a “witness mark” so that the pattern of alternation is evident. 2002 George A. Peters, Barbara J. Peters Automotive Vehicle Safety (Dec.) p. 144: There may be witness marks (scrapes and gouges) on the road surface that may suggest a post-impact movement of a vehicle. 2003 Peter Rhys Lewis, Ken Reynolds, Colin Gagg Forensic Materials Engineering: Case Studies (Sept. 29) p. 88: When recovering evidence for further observation, preservation of any dirt or grease mark on samples can be vital if critical evidence of its past history is not to be lost. Such trace evidence (witness marks) can help in reconstructing past movements of the sample, such as contact with older, perhaps mating parts. 2005 Construction News (Jan. 13) “In Stock” p. 16: Stanley Bostitch has developed a fixing gun designed for both industrial and construction applications. Its 23 Gauge Headless Pinner boasts a magazine that needs no adjustment for varying pin lengths and gives a clean finish clear of witness marks. 2005 [Zhanna] Geocaching (Aug. 10) “Zhanna found ROON (NGS Benchmark) ”: We took a cursory glance around for the drill hole (witness mark) without results. The boulders previously lining the east side of the road seem to have been either replaced or built into a more solid stone wall. Several of them have drill holes through, but there’s no way of knowing which may have been the witness mark, if any. 2006 ABC News (Aug. 26) “ABC News Now/Special Report”: Will there be a witness marks for the entire length of ground from the other runway to the other? Are you going to do the documenting of that?…Our team is documenting everything from the runway all the way to the final rest. And there are a number of witness marks. Whether it’s tree strikes, ground scars, they’re looking at all of that. 2007 Broadcast Engineering (Mar. 1) “DTV Marketplace” vol. 49, no. 1, p. 177: 35mm Film Lens…Weighs less than 4.5lbs, perfect for handheld or steadicam operation; has an extremely fast aperture speed of T/2.6, with excellent contrast and color reproduction; has a 320-degree focus rotation with more than 25 witness marks for maximum accuracy; is available in PL and Panavision mount. 2007 New York Law Journal (Aug. 1) “Expert Testimony Raises Questions Whether Vehicle Not ‘Crashworthy’ Under N.J. Product Liability Act” vol. 238, no. 22, p. 30: The location, shape and dimensions of this rectangle of witness marks [impressions on Mrs. Borsack’s shirt] clearly matches the width and shape of the seat belt webbing. 2007 Nicholas Varchaver Fortune/CNNMoney (Aug. 2) “The next energy crisis”: In recent years the state of Louisiana has embarked on the grueling process of improving its infrastructure maps. People trudge through marshes looking for so-called witness posts, aboveground markers for pipelines. After one such study, notes Roland Guidry, Louisiana’s oil-spill coordinator, “some of the companies were flabbergasted that their pipelines were over a quarter of a mile off from where they thought.”

Posted 9 Aug 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

In process engineering, a witness mark can be the result of a particular process, the presence of which will prove that the process has occurred. E.g. A mark left on a test point from a test probe. However, in some circumstances, such marks are considered to be damaging and so efforts are made to avoid, prevent or eradicate such marks.

by Tim Coombs 10 Aug 07, 1048 GMT