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.
Daniel, the foreman in this remote, informal, small-scale mine in Kono, the diamond region of Sierra Leone, shows me the gravel he's picking through with his fingers.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
I started as a night warehouse foreman, and then I ran a tanker and barge dock in Boston.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Pete Hawkins, aged 17 at the time, was working nearby with the son of foreman Jim Flint.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 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
I didn’t know he was the foreman, until everybody started to move away and someone said, “Okay, boss. We didn’t mean nothing. We was just gonna have a little fun!”
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
But relatives of Craig Foreman have said he has been informed that his punishment is now being extended, for talking to the media from his cell in Tehran's Evin prison.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 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, from East Sussex, have been held since January 2025 and were sentenced to 10 years in February on espionage charges which they deny.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Other sources have confirmed to the family that Lindsay Foreman, 53, had paused a hunger strike after being told she would be able to contact her family, but had since resumed.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
It was a two-shot foul and their center, a big guy who looked like George Foreman, blew the first shot and made the second.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
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
Hourly wages under the limited energy electrician contract heading into negotiations range from $17 for entry-level installers to $51.96 for foremen.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
"My family were quarrymen from the Nantlle Valley in Caernarfonshire, but got good jobs in the mines because of their experience, as foremen and safety officers," Dr Foster Evans said.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2023
If they pleased the superintendent or one of the foremen, they could expect less work and more food.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
