keyman
nounEtymology From key + man.
1
Dated A telegraph operator.
- Conscious of their importance, the 324 labor delegates marched bravely in and elected by acclaim as their president a onetime Ontario telegraph keyman, Senator Gideon Decker Robertson […]1932, Time (volume 19, part 2)
2
India A workman who checks a railway track for faults, and who carries a keying hammer.
3
An employee of vital importance to a business.
- A corporation may feel the need for life insurance on one of its keymen under a variety of circumstances.1957, Pearce Shepherd, Andrew C. Webster, Selection of risks:
- As the keymen learn how to handle confidential company information, the owner-manager can disclose more to them. In most very small firms, the keymen will be "working" bosses.2000, Harvey C. Krentzman, The essentials of business management for profit, page 123:
- Derived terms
- keyman insurance