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assistant foreman

assistant foreman

4.5
A person who helps the foreman by supervising workers
  • noun
translation icon : ayudante de capataz
  • With the foreman absent, the assistant foreman stepped up to lead the construction crew effectively.

Examples

  • Lead man, toolmaker, assistant foreman.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The workers decided to elect an assistant foreman to help manage their tasks.

  • During the meeting, the assistant foreman shared his observations about the team's progress.

Synonyms

overseer
vsassistant foreman
24 4.8

A person who watches and directs workers at places like a factory or construction site

supports a site or organization leader with direct supervision duties
gaffer
vsassistant foreman
  • UK
1 8.1

A person in charge of workers on a work site

supports that supervisor by helping manage other workers under them
ganger
vsassistant foreman
  • UK
1 9.1

A person who leads a small group of manual workers on a railway or construction site

supports the main leader by supervising within a small work gang
straw boss
vsassistant foreman
  • Jargon
8.7

A worker who leads other workers but has little power

supports the main leader while supervising teammates not holding top authority
manhandler
vsassistant foreman
7.5

A person who manages and directs workers

supports a team leader by supervising workers within a specific crew

Antonyms

187 3.1

A person who directs and watches workers on a building site or in a factory

How Senior

superintendent
166 6.0
leader
1.0
foreman
187 3.1
assistant foreman
4.5
worker
600 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

assistant + foreman

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'assistant' (a person who helps) with 'foreman' (a supervisor), yielding a person who assists the foreman in supervising workers. This occupational compound follows a common, productive pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Assistant foreman comes from the simple idea of a helper next to the boss: an assistant stands beside the foreman to help and watch the workers, and can take charge when the foreman is away. So, the term means 'a person who supports the foreman by supervising other workers'.