linesman

noun lines·man \ ˈlīnz-mən \

|Updated on: 23 Jun 2018

Definition of linesman

1 : lineman 1

2 : an official who assists a referee (as in football, tennis, or hockey) especially in determining if a ball, puck, or player is out-of-bounds or offside

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Recent Examples of linesman from the Web

The ball appeared to ricochet onto the goal line and spun back into play, but a linesman from Azerbaijan raised his flag and awarded the goal.

— joshua robinson, WSJ, "The ‘Hand of God’ Delusion: World Cup History on Further Review," 14 June 2018
In Russia, linesmen are being instructed to keep their flags down for close offside calls, letting play continue and VAR sort it out later.

— mark zeigler, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Your guide to the World Cup you forgot was happening," 13 June 2018
And yet Argentina's first goal against England was scored with a hand, but unseen by the referee and the linesmen, it was allowed.

— CNN, "How Diego Maradona redefined football in the space of less than five minutes," 11 June 2018
Fittingly, the linesman to whom that name referred was not actually Russian.

— The Economist, "When drama and beauty turn the World Cup into art," 7 June 2018
When the buzzer sounded, the two teams once again engaged in a brawl that resulted in one of the linesmen bear-hugging and eventually sprawling on top of a group of players from both teams.

— tyler horka, SI.com, "Stanley Cup Final: Capitals, Holtby Hang on in Game 2 to Even Series," 30 May 2018
But after a linesman stepped up to prevent a fight, Wilson went berserk.

— kevin allen, USA TODAY, "Capitals' Tom Wilson goes berserk, then punches off Lightning player's helmet in Game 7 fight," 23 May 2018
The Spaniard then risked further retribution for sarcastically applauding the referee, before slapping the flag out of a linesman's hand later in the game.

— SI.com, "Chelsea Fans Take to Twitter to Offer Contrasting Views on Strikers Àlvaro Morata & Olivier Giroud," 11 Mar. 2018
Shortly after, Atalanta got the benefit of VAR when Remo Freuler's goal was awarded after it was initially ruled out by the linesman.

— USA TODAY, "Juventus moves top of Serie A after beating 9-man Chievo 2-0," 27 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'linesman.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.