Meaning & use
a middle man
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person or company that buys goods from a producer and sells them to shops or buyers, earning money on the deal.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a middle man' for one and 'middle men' for more than one.
Patterns
- act as a middle man
- cut out the middle man
- a middle man between someone and someone
The farm sells most of its vegetables through a middle man who delivers to restaurants.
Small fishermen say the middle man takes most of the profit, leaving them very little.
If you order directly from the maker, you pay less because there is no middle man.
nouncountable
Someone who passes messages or information between two people or groups who do not deal with each other directly.
Grammar: Often followed by 'between': a middle man between the union and the managers.
Patterns
- a middle man between someone and someone
- use someone as a middle man
She acted as a middle man between the two families and finally got them talking.
I never spoke to the owner myself; everything went through a middle man in the office.
Word forms
| plural | middle men |
|---|
Common combinations
- cut out the middle man
- Online shops cut out the middle man and sell straight to customers.
- act as a middle man
- The agent acted as a middle man in the sale of the house.
- go through a middle man
- All complaints go through a middle man before reaching the director.
- a middle man between
- He became a middle man between the buyers and the local farmers.
- use a middle man
- Many exporters use a middle man to handle paperwork abroad.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intermediary
- More formal and used in legal or official writing; 'middle man' sounds plainer and is common in everyday business talk.
- broker
- A broker is a professional who arranges deals, often for a fee, while a middle man may simply buy and resell goods.
- go-between
- A go-between passes messages between people and is not usually involved in buying or selling.
Word family
- middleman noun
- The usual one-word spelling of the same job or role.
- middlemen noun
- The plural of 'middleman', meaning several people or firms in this role.
Commonly confused: a middle man or middleman? a middle man or mediator?
a middle man vs middleman
This is the same word written as one word. The one-word form is more common in business writing, while 'middle man' as two words is also correct.
a middle man vs mediator
A mediator helps two sides reach an agreement and does not buy or sell anything, so it fits disputes rather than trade.
Practice
The farmers sell their coffee to a company that resells it to supermarkets. What is that company?
Choose one answer.
'A middle man' buys from the producer and sells on to shops, which is exactly what the company does. 'A mediator' settles arguments, and 'a producer' would be the farmers themselves.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a middle man”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.