Definition of "overseer"

One who oversees or supervises.

1. (historical) The manager of a plantation of slaves.  quotations

   Quotations

   • It is often deemed advisable to knock a man slave down, in order to tie him, but it is considered cowardly and inexcusable, in an overseer, thus to deal with a woman.

     1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […]

2. (historical) An officer responsible for the care of the poor, making out lists of voters and those who had not paid taxes, etc.

(obsolete) A critic.