galley slave

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noun

a person condemned to work at an oar on a galley.

a drudge.

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Origin of galley slave

First recorded in 1560–70

Words nearby galley slave

gallery tray, gallery wire, gallet, galley, galley proof, galley slave, galley-west, gallfly, Gallia, galliambic, Galliano

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use galley slave in a sentence

Do not drudge like a galley-slave, nor do business in a laborious manner, as if you wish to be pitied or wondered at.
The Worlds Greatest Books, Volume XIII.|Various
I am sure, no galley-slave ever took to his oar with more reluctance than poor Frazer.
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete|Charles Sturt
Surely he would have then concluded me as constant at the bordello, as the galley-slave at his oar.
An Introduction to the Prose and Poetical Works of John Milton|Hiram Corson
Six months back home, toiling like a galley slave, furnished requisite funds for another fling at New York.
If You Don't Write Fiction|Charles Phelps Cushing

The galley slave led a life of luxurious ease compared with John Burkett Ryder.
The Lion and The Mouse|Charles Klein

British Dictionary definitions for galley slave

galley slave

noun

a criminal or slave condemned to row in a galley

informal a drudge

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