Meaning & use
lineman
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Meanings
nouncountableAmericansport
In American football, a player who starts each play positioned on the line of scrimmage, either blocking or trying to get past blockers.
Grammar: Countable: one lineman, two linemen (note the irregular plural).
Patterns
- a defensive lineman
- an offensive lineman
- play as a lineman
He was a defensive lineman before a knee injury ended his career.
The coach moved the biggest player to lineman on the offensive side.
Linemen on both teams weigh well over 300 pounds these days.
nouncountableAmerican
A worker whose job is to build, check, or repair electrical power lines and telephone cables, often climbing poles or working from a bucket truck.
Grammar: Countable; plural is linemen. Often used with utility or power: a power lineman.
Patterns
- a power lineman
- a lineman for the electric company
- work as a lineman
After the storm, linemen worked through the night to restore electricity.
She trained as a lineman and now repairs high-voltage cables.
The utility sent a lineman to check the damaged pole.
nouncountableAmericansport
In sports such as tennis, a person who watches the lines and tells the referee whether a ball landed inside or outside the court.
Grammar: Countable; the British English word for this role is usually linesman.
Patterns
- a line judge
- call in a lineman
The lineman signaled that the ball was out.
Players sometimes argue with the lineman over a close call.
Word forms
| plural | linemen |
|---|
Common combinations
- defensive lineman
- The defensive lineman sacked the quarterback twice.
- offensive lineman
- An offensive lineman must protect the quarterback.
- power lineman
- A power lineman climbed the pole to fix the wire.
- lineman for the electric company
- He has been a lineman for the electric company for ten years.
- lineman's gloves
- Linemen wear thick lineman's gloves when working with live wires.
Synonyms and how they differ
- linesman
- Used in British English for the sports official, and also for a worker on railway or power lines; in American football, lineman is the standard term for a player.
- line judge
- A more formal term for the tennis official who watches the lines; lineman is the older, more common word in American English.
- utility worker
- A broader term for anyone who works for a utility company; lineman is more specific and refers to someone who works on the lines themselves.
Word family
Commonly confused: lineman or linesman?
lineman vs linesman
In British English, linesman is the usual word for a sports official who watches the lines; in American English, lineman is used for that role and for football players, while linesman is more common in British English.
Practice
Which sentence uses lineman correctly for an American football player?
Choose one answer.
A lineman in American football blocks or rushes on the line of scrimmage, so option 2 fits. Option 0 describes an electrical worker, option 1 describes a tennis official, and option 3 describes a railway worker.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lineman”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.