seˈlectman U.S.
[f. select a. + man n.1]
One of a board of officers elected annually to manage various local concerns in a ‘town’ or ‘township’ in New England.
| 1646 in Gen. Laws Massachusetts (1672) 122 The Select men of Boston, Charlstown [etc.]. 1792 J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 282 Three or five Selectmen are annually chosen in each town, who are entrusted with its general concerns. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. iii. lxiv. II. 468 note, The ‘selectmen’ of a New England Town are not paid. |
| transf. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. x. (1859) 233 The select-men of an African kraal-village would have had more respect for their ancestors. |