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
His absence from work resulted in a demotion from lead foreman to an assistant role.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
With his breath condensing in clouds in temperatures double figures below zero, a foreman summed the attitude that is common here, when I asked him why Russia was attacking them.
From BBC ● Feb. 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
Without Shawn as foreman, Dad’s construction business dwindled.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
"Lindsay and Craig Foreman should not be in prison," said UN special rapporteurs Dr Alice Edwards and Mai Sato.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Craig Foreman was arrested with his wife, Lindsay, in January last year while passing through Iran on a motorcycle journey from Europe to Australia.
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 Foreman is believed to be 12 days into a hunger strike, which he began after the couple's phone access was cut off in early May.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
The latest news from Mobutu is that he’s bringing two great American boxers, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, to the stadium in Kinshasa.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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
Construction-software firms are selling AI-powered tools that can assist site managers and foremen with work like analyzing sites for potential safety violations—tasks AI models can accomplish by searching through and synthesizing large amounts of data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
"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
“These additional safety measures include greater transparency for workers, closer oversight from the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health and increased training for foremen and all hands.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
All the other foremen, including the chongban- jang, or head foreman, were prisoners.
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.
