Dictionary definition(s) for: hearsay rule

• n., A legal provision excluding testimony that is based on second-hand, rather than personal, knowledge (hearsay).
• n., A statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.
  [ Government - Federal Rules of Evidence , Page: 15 ]
  Federal Rules of Evidence. Article VIII. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004. Also available online at http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/printers/108th/evid2004.pdf#search=%22%22federal%20rules%20of%20evidence%22%22.
• n., The rule that no assertion offered as testimony can be received unless it is or has been open to test by cross-examination or an opportunity for cross-examination, except as provided otherwise by the rules of evidence, by court rules, or by statute.
  [ Government - Black's Law Dictionary ]
  Black's Law Dictionary. 8th ed. Edited by Bryan A.Garner and Henry Campbell Black. St. Paul, MN : Thomson/West, 2004.