assistant referee
- noun
- After a contentious play, the main referee consulted with the assistant referee before making his final decision.
- video assistant referee
Examples
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The assistant referee ought to be removed from his or her duties for gross negligence in not bringing the matter to the referee's attention immediately, but this will likely not happen.
Blog text (7) -
During the game, the assistant referee provided crucial assistance by signaling when the ball went out of bounds.
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The rules of soccer, easily the most popular sport on the planet, put signal flags in the hands of the two assistant referees, who use them actively during the game, as well as at the four corners of the pitch.
Blog text (18) -
Before the PK is taken, one of the assistant referees signals the center referee for a conference and informs him that the Red team has too many players on the field, and that Red #9 was supposed to have substituted out of the game at the last substitution break but came back onto the field.
Blog text (7) -
The assistant referee raised his flag to indicate an offside position during the match.
Synonyms
A person who watches a game to make sure players follow the rules
An official who watches the lines and signals when the ball is out or a player is offside
A woman who helps the referee by deciding if the ball is out or offside
An official who helps the referee by watching the sideline and keeping the game time
A person who makes sure players follow the rules in a football game
A person who watches the line to tell if a ball or player is out
Antonyms
How Senior
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'assistant' (a helper) combined with 'referee' (a game official) yields an official who helps the main referee. This noun‑noun compound follows a common and cross‑linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The term assistant referee comes from the picture of an official running along the sideline with a flag, where the assistant watches for 'offside' and the ball 'out of play' to help the main referee. That's why today an assistant referee is the official who 'helps' the referee by raising a flag to show those calls.