\Se*lect"man\, n.; pl. {Selectmen}.
One of a board of town officers chosen annually in the New
England States to transact the general public business of the
town, and have a kind of executive authority. The number is
usually from three to seven in each town.

      The system of delegated town action was then, perhaps,
      the same which was defined in an ``order made in 1635
      by the inhabitants of Charlestown at a full meeting for
      the government of the town, by selectmen;'' the name
      presently extended throughout New England to municipal
      governors.                               --Palfrey.