linesman

noun lines·man \ ˈlīnz-mən \

|Updated on: 4 Aug 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

At first a goal wasn't given, but then allowed after consultation between the referee and linesman.

— motez bishara, CNN, "World Cup: Is Russia 2018 the last chance for Messi and Ronaldo?," 13 June 2018
When the linesman’s flag canceled the goal for offside: a deep relief.

— joshua robinson, WSJ, "World Cup Curse Hits Defending Champion Germany," 27 June 2018
The linesman's offside flag was correctly overturned as the Germans suffered even more humiliation in injury time.

— SI.com, "South Korea 2-0 Germany: Champions Curse Strikes Again as Germany Suffer Shock World Cup Exit," 27 June 2018
The linesman's offside flag was correctly overturned as the Germans suffered even more humiliation in injury time.

— nathan hilditch, Pro Soccer USA, "South Korea 2-0 Germany: Champions curse strikes again as Germany exits World Cup," 27 June 2018
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

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.