foreman

American  

[fawr-muhn, fohr-] / ˈfɔr mən, ˈfoʊr- /

noun

PLURAL

foremen

1. a person in charge of a particular department, group of workers, etc., as in a factory or the like.

2. the member of a jury selected to preside over and speak for all the jurors on the panel.

---

foreman ¹ British  

/ ˈfɔːmən /

noun

1. Gender-neutral form: supervisor.  a person, often experienced, who supervises other workmen

2. Female equivalent: forewoman.  law the principal juror, who presides at the deliberations of a jury

---

Foreman ² British  

/ ˈfɔːmən /

noun

1. George . born 1949, US boxer: world heavyweight champion (1973–74); retired in 1977 but re-entered the ring in 1987 and won the heavyweight championship in 1994 at age 45

---

Gender

See -man.

Other Word Forms

• foremanship noun
• subforeman noun
• subforemanship noun

Etymology

Origin of foreman

1175–1225; Middle English forman chief servant, steward. See fore-, man

Example Sentences

Instead, only the foreman signed off on it — the legal equivalent of pulling a fast one on the judicial process.

From Salon

My father, Rudy, was the foreman at Associated Transport, a huge trucking company with a branch in Richmond that went bankrupt.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rosario, the foreman’s wife, had woken up at 4:30 a.m., as she always does, to make the couple a lunch of homemade tortillas, green beans and refried beans.

From Los Angeles Times

Halligan told Nachmanoff she brought an altered indictment to the grand jury’s foreman and had them sign off on it without another vote from the full jury.

From Salon

Phillips has shipbuilding in his blood—his great-grandfather worked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard starting from the 1950s and later rose to foreman.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• superintendent
• supervisor