linesman

[lahynz-muh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR linesman ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural lines·men.

Sports.

an official, as in tennis and soccer, who assists the referee.
Football.an official who marks the distances gained and lost in the progress of play and otherwise assists the referee and field judge.
Ice Hockey.either of two officials who assist the referee by watching for icing, offside, and substitution violations and fouls and by conducting face-offs.

lineman(def 1).

RELATED WORDS

juicer, wireman, lineman

Origin of linesman

First recorded in 1855–60; line¹ + 's¹ + -man

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for linesman

Contemporary Examples of linesman

Frank Lampard should have had a second for the Three Lions, but it was wrongfully disallowed by the linesman.
Germany Ousts England from World Cup
The Daily Beast
June 27, 2010

Historical Examples of linesman

Why, youyouLook here, dont you know anything about the duties of a linesman?
Center Rush Rowland
Ralph Henry Barbour
The ball is in play if it touches the referee or a linesman when in the field of play.
Association Football
John Cameron
Those days over, he enters the arena as Umpire, Referee or Linesman.
Football Days
William H. Edwards
The linesman is closely connected with the referee in every way, although his duties are not really arduous.
Association Football
John Cameron
Lashed to a ring-bolt was a little, red-breeched French linesman, apparently dead.
A Gallant Grenadier
F.S. Brereton

British Dictionary definitions for linesman

linesman

noun plural -men

an official who helps the referee or umpire in various sports, esp by indicating when the ball has gone out of play

mainly British a person who installs, maintains, or repairs telephone or electric-power linesUS and Canadian name: lineman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for linesman

1856, "soldier in a regiment of the line," from genitive of line (n.) + man (n.). Sports sense, in reference to umpires with specific duties in games with lines (originally tennis, also ice hockey) is from 1890.