1. a person condemned to man the oars in a galley.historical
▪ a person who works very hard, typically performing menial or thankless tasks:historical"not so long ago, doctoral students were viewed as the galley slaves of the scientific world"
A galley slave was a slave rowing in a galley, either a convicted criminal sentenced to work at the oar, or a kind of human chattel, sometimes a prisoner of war, assigned to the duty of rowing. Wikipedia
