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.
O’Rourke and double bassist Johan Berthling shape a steady drone, while Ishibashi’s piano runs suggest time-lapse footage of ice crystals forming, ordinary little bits cohering into objects of wonder. — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026 That level of pure confidence while talking to the person with cold, hard footage is what makes Lisa Barlow the perfect Real Housewife. — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026 An introduction involving Spider-Man and a tank expanded from a handful of words into 11 shots and roughly 52 seconds of footage. — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026 The incident was caught on security camera footage, which detectives used with facial recognition software to identify Person, according to the report. — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 15 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 20 Oct. 2026.

Kids Definition

1
: length measured in feet
2
: scenes or action recorded on film or video
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!