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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]