firsthand

3 definitions • 4 examples

If you experience something firsthand, you experience it yourself:

Most of the older reporters have experienced war firsthand.

gained by doing something yourself or from someone who was involved in something:

Most of us have firsthand experience of teaching.

Obtaining firsthand accounts from the survivors was tricky.

obtained personally, or directly from someone who is personally involved in something:

He has firsthand experience of what war is like.