middleman

[ mid-l-man ]

/ ˈmɪd lˌmæn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR middleman ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural mid·dle·men.

a person who plays an economic role intermediate between producer and retailer or consumer.

a person who acts as an intermediary.

Nearby words

middlebreaker, middlebrow, middleburg heights, middlebuster, middlehand, middleman, middlemarch, middlemost, middlesborough, middlesbrough, middlescence

Origin of middleman

1400–50; late Middle English: maker of girdles; see middle, man¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for middleman

A more recent wrinkle is the doctor who prescribes from his own office, cutting out the middleman (read: pharmacist).
New Study Says Doctors Can’t “Just Say No” to Their Patients|Kent Sepkowitz|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But it turns out that the manager had received no such recording, due to some middleman botching the exchange.
The Real Life of Llewyn Davis|Nicholas Mancusi|November 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Warby Parker's reinvention of the high-priced optical industry relied on one main tactic: cutting out the middleman.
Warby Parker Thrives by Giving Away Glasses Whenever It Sells a Pair|Nina Strochlic|May 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
As is the case with all secondary markets, however, the middleman usually takes a piece.
What to Do With Unwanted Gift Cards|Nina Strochlic|December 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Forget the middleman, and bring his message “straight to the people.”
Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, John McCain, and More Sunday Talk|The Daily Beast Video|September 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Welder, wel′dėr, n. a land-tenant holding under the farmer or middleman.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
The poultry she raised herself; for the fish, she was a middleman between fishermen and householders.
The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story|Various
It is the middleman, the profiteer, the new capitalist here who has become an ugly and a dominant power.
The Devil's Paw|E. Phillips Oppenheim
I'm not the principal party in the transaction—I'm only the middleman.
The Making of a Soul|Kathlyn Rhodes
The storekeeper is the middleman, really serving both producer and consumer.
Our Domestic Birds|John H. Robinson

British Dictionary definitions for middleman

middleman

/ (ˈmɪdəlˌmæn) /

noun plural -men

an independent trader engaged in the distribution of goods from producer to consumer

an intermediary

theatre the interlocutor in minstrel shows

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

middleman

noun, plural mid·dle·men.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of middleman

Examples from the Web for middleman

British Dictionary definitions for middleman

middleman

noun plural -men