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middleman
Fur Trade, Hist.
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
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.
Quotations
1761
They engage . . . the middle-men at one hundred and fifty livres and the end-men at three hundred livres, each.
1806
St. Pierre, that was here as boute de canot> above, was reduced to a middleman. . . .
1956
The crew of each boat comprised the middleman and the boutes, the latter being the bowsman and steersman, who sometimes helped with the paddles.