DCHP-1 Online

middleman Fur Trade, Hist.

• n. in a freight canoe, York boat, or bateau, one of the crewmen who worked the paddles or oars from a middle position in the craft, a rank inferior to that of the bowsman or steersman.

  See also: bowsman  midman  milieu  steersman  

  • 1761  (1901)  They engage . . . the middle-men at one hundred and fifty livres and the end-men at three hundred livres, each.
  • 1806  (1960)  St. Pierre, that was here as boute de canot> above, was reduced to a middleman. . . .
  • 1956  (1957)  The crew of each boat comprised the middleman and the boutes, the latter being the bowsman and steersman, who sometimes helped with the paddles.