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.
His father held all kinds of jobs, often at the same time: He was a warehouse foreman, ran a fencing company and unloaded box cars.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 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
The crew members, led by longtime foreman Raul, wore jeans, sneakers, steel-toed boots and bandannas.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2025
Ivan Smith, foreman of Works at Newbridge House and Traditional Farm, said the team was "absolutely shocked" by the incident.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025
On the way there, he stopped at the rubber factory and asked for Sissy’s foreman.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
