galley slave

• galley-slave

galley slave (plural galley slaves)

1. (historical, nautical) A slave who rows in a galley (type of ship).

   Synonym: gallerian

   • 1885, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, chapter XXII, in John Ormsby, transl., The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha […] In Four Vols, volume I, London: Smith, Elder & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 346:

     "That is a chain of galley slaves, on the way to the galleys by force of the king's orders." "How by force?" asked Don Quixote; "is it possible that the king uses force against anyone?" "I do not say that," answered Sancho, "but that these are people condemned for their crimes to serve by force in the king's galleys."

2. (obsolete, slang) A typesetter (person who arranged type in a galley for printing).
   • 1905, American Printer and Bookmaker: Jan.-Feb. 1900, page 443:

     The "galley slaves" in those days were the genuine article, and by the "chains that bound them" were no doubt the original members of the union.

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