Dictionary

chain of evidence en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A series of related facts that together point to a specific conclusion, although taken individually they would be inconclusive.
   • […] he wished the public mind to rest satisfied, before the sentence was executed, that no link was wanting in the chain of evidence against the prisoner. 1957, Robert Graves, chapter 23, in They Hanged My Saintly Billy, page 242:
   • which are so many joint proofs of these witnesses integrity, and makes an [sic] chain of evidence and moral demonstration both against Error in themselves and delusion in relation to others […] 1698, Francis Grant, Lord Cullen, A True Narrative of the Sufferings and Relief of a Young Girle, page 18:
   • All these recollections presented to Ferdinand a chain of evidence too powerful to be resisted, and he could not doubt that the spirit of the dead had for once been permitted to revisit the earth, and to call down vengeance on the descendants of the murderer. 1790, Ann Radcliffe, chapter 6, in A Sicilian Romance, volume 1, page 225:
   • Climate change has disrupted this system. For the scientific record, we want to get to the bottom of that as best we can, before events of this winter destroy a beautiful species and the chain of evidence we might use for tracking its demise. 2012, Barbara Kingsolver, chapter 9, in Flight Behavior, pages 228-229:

Forms