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middleman

middleman

14 3.4
A person or company that buys large amounts of goods and sells them to shops
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪdəlˌmæn/
translation icon : mayorista
  • The company acts as a middleman, buying products in bulk and selling them to smaller retailers.
  • middleman trading

But of course, going through a middleman in America, the price is almost doubled.

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Examples

  • The Internet is now the middleman for retail, for media, for our society.

  • Another type of middleman, in addition to art dealers, is art curators or collectors.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Are you willing to hand off the work to a middleman, or not?

    Blog text (1)
  • That way, we cut out the middleman.

  • But of course, going through a middleman in America, the price is almost doubled.

  • I can eliminate the middleman or I can be him.

  • There is no middleman, and thus the client is paying only for translation.

    Blog text (1)
  • There still needs to be a licensed entity, a middleman, even if it's electronic to make that transaction happen.

  • So that means that Quints can cut out the cost of the middleman and pass the savings right on to you.

  • And because we eliminate the middleman, we can sell all our spatulas factory-direct to you.

Synonyms

distributor
vsmiddleman
74 3.5

A company that supplies products to shops and businesses

emphasizes purchasing large quantities to resell rather than just supplying
wholesaler
vsmiddleman
22 3.5

A person or company that buys goods in large amounts from makers and sells them to shops

is the same commercial role described with a different name
reseller
vsmiddleman
12 3.7

A person or business that buys goods to sell to others for profit

refers specifically to selling to retailers and merchants rather than any buyers
jobber
vsmiddleman
  • Jargon
1 7.8

A person or company that buys large amounts of goods to sell to shops

is the same trading function named differently in some industries
middlewoman
vsmiddleman
6.5

A woman who buys large amounts of goods and sells them to shops

is the gender-neutral name for the same wholesale trade role
grosser
vsmiddleman
  • Archaic
7.4

A person who sells goods in large amounts to shops

is an alternative label for the identical bulk-selling trade role
disty
vsmiddleman
  • Jargon
9.1

A company that supplies goods to shops and other sellers

is the standard neutral term rather than informal slang
distributer
vsmiddleman
  • US
3.4

A company or person that supplies goods to shops and businesses

is the term that stresses the buying and resale to merchants specifically

Idioms

Buy or sell directly from the maker without using other sellers

Surface Forms

middleman singular
middlemen plural

Morphology

middleman = middle + man (transparent) = middle + man

The compound 'middle' + 'man' straightforwardly denotes a person occupying an intermediate position, which maps directly to a reseller between suppliers and retailers.

Etymology

Middleman comes from the simple parts middle and man, meaning someone 'in the middle' between seller and buyer. So a middleman buys goods in large amounts and then sells them to shops or other businesses rather than to the final buyer.