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

And after she came back to California and got married, she and her husband, the Rindge ranch foreman, started up a Guernsey milk business that became one of the biggest dairy operations in the world.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2026

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

From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025

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 • Nov. 10, 2025

I heard the judge ask the jury whether they had reached a decision, and the foreman answer, “Yes.”

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2025

After perhaps half an hour of visiting among the tables, the foreman reminded us that we had a day’s quota to meet and people drifted back to their places.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

• superintendent
• supervisor