linespeoplen.
/ˈlʌɪnzpiːpl/, U.S. /ˈlaɪnzˌpip(ə)l/ 1. Sport (originally and chiefly Tennis). In games played on a field or court: officials who assist the referee or umpire from the sideline or touchline, considered collectively.
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1974 Sunday Gaz.-Mail (Charleston, W. Va.) 2 June 6 d/8 She became convinced that the linespeople were prejudiced against her.
1983 R. M. Brown Sudden Death (1984) iii. 54 She always supported her linespeople unless the mistake was glaring.
2015 Centralian Advocate (Alice Springs) (Nexis) 30 Jan. 42 One of the linespeople officiating at the Australian Open quarter-final match..on Tuesday night.
2. Originally North American. People employed to repair and maintain telephone or electricity power lines, considered collectively. Cf. linesman n. 2.
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1977 Courier-Express (DuBois, Pa.) 6 May 16/6 (advt.) Some of the jobs to be filled: artillery crewpeople..telephone linespeople.
1985 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 129 115/2 The company [sc. Bell Telephones] trained linespeople, phone installers, operators, [etc.].
2010 Guelph (Ont.) Mercury (Nexis) 8 Mar. 1 We've got..linespeople with 30-plus years saying it's the worst [ice] they've ever seen.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1974