a person in charge of a particular department, group of workers, etc., as in a factory or the like.
the member of a jury selected to preside over and speak for all the jurors on the panel.
Gender-neutral form: supervisor. a person, often experienced, who supervises other workmen
Female equivalent: forewoman. law the principal juror, who presides at the deliberations of a jury
See -man.
1175–1225; Middle English forman chief servant, steward. See fore-, man
On many job sites, the boss or supervisor is called the foreman. If you get a job on a construction crew, the foreman is the person in charge. While the supervisor in an office, hospital, or school has a totally different title, in manual labor it's common to use the word foreman. This is true in factories and plants, as well as on ranches and railroads. Even on a jury there's a foreman, the member who announces the group's verdict. A woman in one of these roles might be called foreman, forewoman, or foreperson. A simpler, gender-neutral compromise is to use "supervisor" instead.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After the jury foreman, when asked “How say you?” answered “Guilty,” 34 times, Trump turned to face the back of the room, looking uncharacteristically stricken.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
I started as a night warehouse foreman, and then I ran a tanker and barge dock in Boston.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
A complaint has been filed against the factory owner and foreman, both of whom are absconding, police said, adding that four special teams have been set up to trace and arrest them.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
The crew members, led by longtime foreman Raul, wore jeans, sneakers, steel-toed boots and bandannas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2025
A servant held an umbrella aloft to keep Gupta in the shade, but the burly foreman was sweating in the sunshine.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
George Foreman and Muhammad Ali climbed off the couch too many times to mention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been held since January 2025, and were sentenced in February of this year.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
UN special rapporteurs Dr Alice Edwards and Mai Sato said proceedings against Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, had been marked by grave irregularities.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Craig and Lindsay Foreman, from East Sussex, have been held since January 2025 and were sentenced to 10 years in February on espionage charges which they deny.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
The latest news from Mobutu is that he’s bringing two great American boxers, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, to the stadium in Kinshasa.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
The colonial trade also ravaged the archipelago's forests and wrecked communities, with able-bodied men required to offer 40 days of unpaid service to fell trees and build ships under Spanish foremen.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Construction-software firms are selling AI-powered tools that can assist site managers and foremen with work like analyzing sites for potential safety violations—tasks AI models can accomplish by searching through and synthesizing large amounts of data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
Hourly wages under the limited energy electrician contract heading into negotiations range from $17 for entry-level installers to $51.96 for foremen.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
"My family were quarrymen from the Nantlle Valley in Caernarfonshire, but got good jobs in the mines because of their experience, as foremen and safety officers," Dr Foster Evans said.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2023
The packinghouse foremen made it quite clear that the prior day’s riot did not merit any discussion or work slowdown.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
