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middleman

American  
[mid-l-man] / ˈmɪd lˌmæn /

noun

plural

middlemen

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

  2. a person who acts as an intermediary.

middleman British  
/ ˈmɪdəlˌmæn /

noun

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

  2. an intermediary

  3. 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

Etymology

Origin of middleman

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"But we found that there was an unexpected middleman in that conversation, astrocytes."

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

Jury selection is currently scheduled for 26 October and a trial is expected to continue with Smith and their alleged middleman Jacobson, even if Jeffries is ruled incompetent.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

The bespectacled middleman started at Dubai-based commodities firm Coral Energy as a novice trader in 2014.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Palantir bears have argued that the company is just an “AI wrapper” on top of existing large language models, making its technology a middleman that could be easily replaced or cut out.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026

Sizwe, the other middleman from my CD business, found out I had a date, and he made it his mission to give me a makeover.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.