foreman

[fawr-muhn, fohr-]

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

/ 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

/ 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 Note

See -man.

Other Word Forms

• foremanship noun
• subforeman noun
• subforemanship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreman¹

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

Example Sentences

In Texas, a white foreman stopped Alvarado and his group from picking in cotton fields just before a plane covered the crop with DDT.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Wearing a black suit and black shirt, Brain showed no emotion as the jury foreman delivered the verdicts.

Read more on BBC

The University High crew was trained by a Mexican foreman “who in retrospect must have hated us because we were taking the jobs of his family.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A female juror was visibly upset as the foreman returned the verdicts and as she wiped tears away, she was comforted by two fellow jury members.

Read more on BBC

Judge Philip Shorrock said Mason had a "leading role", and described her as "the site foreman working under a project manager".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• superintendent 
• supervisor