foreman
noun
a person in charge of a particular department, group of workers, etc., as in a factory or the like.
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foreman
American
[fawr-muhn, fohr-]
/ ˈfɔr mən, ˈfoʊr- /
noun
-
foremen
plural
-
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.
foreman
1
British
/ ˈfɔːmən /
noun
-
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
Foreman
2
British
/ ˈfɔːmən /
noun
Gender
See -man.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of foreman
1175–1225; Middle English forman chief servant, steward. See fore-, man
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing foreman
Like A Boss: Words for the Person in Charge
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A Night Divided
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"One Last Time," Vocabulary from the memoir
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The workers traveled to Russia in groups, accompanied by a director, cook, interpreter, doctor and a foreman, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The rescued men, both Nepali, were named as Sanjay Sah, 30, a mechanical foreman, as well as Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor, by Home Minister Sudan Gurung.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
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
His absence from work resulted in a demotion from lead foreman to an assistant role.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
Officer Delinko didn’t tell Curly that the Matherson boy was too scared of alligators to be the vandal, because Officer Delinko didn’t want the foreman to get all agitated again.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Lindsay and Craig Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in jail over espionage charges, which they both deny, and are being held in Evin prison.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
Craig and Lindsay Foreman, from East Sussex, continue to be held in Evin prison on espionage charges having lost an appeal over a 10-year prison sentence.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Maybe we can follow this one up with dancing and refreshments. 6TH JUROR: Mr. Foreman?
From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose
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
The biggest holdup in the fiber boom, he said, is human capital for roles including drillers, foremen, splicers and aerial linemen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
“These additional safety measures include greater transparency for workers, closer oversight from the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health and increased training for foremen and all hands.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
Those experiences find their way into the stories in the form of wracked bodies and foremen who vanish come payday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2022
Doc waited at the ambulance with its crew, and Mr. Van Dyke watched with a little knot of foremen and engineers from the porch outside Dad’s office.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
