middle */*/*/

middle */*/*/
I UK [ˈmɪd(ə)l] / US noun
Word forms "middle":
singular middle plural middles
1)
a) the middle the part of something that is furthest from the sides, edges, or ends
middle of, in the middle (of something):

There was a large cat sitting in the middle of the road.

into the middle (of something):

Katy threw the stone into the middle of the pond.

down/through the middle:

a sheet with a blue stripe down the middle

in the middle:

The cake was still frozen in the middle.

right/(slap) bang/smack in the middle of something (= exactly in the middle of something):

They've put a horrible statue smack in the middle of the courtyard.

b) the middle the part that is between the beginning and the end of a period of time or an event
middle of:

the middle of the 15th century

in the middle of something:

Why are you creeping about in the middle of the night?

He fell asleep in the middle of the film.

2) [countable, usually singular] your waist and the part of your body around your waist

Ben was holding a towel around his middle.

•

be (caught/stuck) in the middle — if you are caught or stuck in the middle of two people who are arguing, you feel as though you are expected to support both of them

Many children feel caught in the middle when their parents divorce.

divide/split something down the middle — to make a group of people divide into two opposing groups; to share something equally between two people or groups

This issue has divided the Conservative Party down the middle.

Let's split the work down the middle.

in the middle of (doing) something — busy doing something

He was in the middle of vacuuming when I arrived.

(somewhere) in the middle — in the position of not having a particular opinion but not having the opposite opinion either; in the rank or position between the highest and the lowest

Some people adore her, and some hate her, and others are somewhere in the middle.


II UK [ˈmɪd(ə)l] / US adjective
1) nearest the centre and with an equal number of people or things on each side

The map's in the middle drawer.

the middle lane of the motorway

2) happening in the part between the beginning and the end of something, or between the highest and lowest point of something

The middle section of the book deals with training a dog.

middle-income families

3) a middle way of doing something is a way of doing it that is not as extreme as two other ways of doing it
•

middle child/daughter/brother etc — the child, daughter, brother etc who is between the oldest and the youngest in age

I'm the middle child in our family.

in your middle 30s/40s etc — around 35/45 etc in age

a man in his middle 50s

the middle 1950s/1980s etc — the years around 1955/1985 etc

By the middle 1990s, he had become a millionaire.


English dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Middle — Mid dle (m[i^]d d l), a. [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. [root]271. See {Mid}, a.] [1913 Webster] 1. Equally distant from the extreme either of a number of things or of one thing; mean; medial; as, the middle… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Middle — may refer to: Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Geography in fiction …   Wikipedia

  • middle — [mid′ l] adj. [ME middel < OE < midd ,MID1 + el, LE] 1. halfway between two given points, times, limits, etc.; also, equally distant from all sides or extremities; in the center; mean 2. in between; intermediate; intervening 3. Gram. a …   English World dictionary

  • Middle — Mid dle, n. [AS. middel. See {Middle}, a.] The point or part equally distant from the extremities or exterior limits, as of a line, a surface, or a solid; an intervening point or part in space, time, or order of series; the midst; central… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • middle — [adj] central average, between, betwixt and between*, center, centermost, equidistant, halfway, inner, inside, intermediate, intervening, mainstream, mean, medial, median, medium, mezzo*, middlemost, middle of the road*, midmost, smack in the… …   New thesaurus

  • middle C — n [U] the musical note C, which is the middle note on a piano …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • middle C — ► NOUN Music ▪ the C near the middle of the piano keyboard, written on the first ledger line below the treble stave or the first ledger line above the bass stave …   English terms dictionary

  • middle — ► ADJECTIVE 1) at an equal distance from the extremities of something; central. 2) intermediate in rank, quality, or ability. ► NOUN 1) a middle point or position. 2) informal a person s waist and stomach …   English terms dictionary

  • middle — I adjective average, axial, centermost, central, centric, centroidal, equidistant, halfway, interjacent, intermediary, intermediate, mean, medial, median, mediate, mediocre, medium, mid, midmost, midway, pivotal II noun average, axis, center,… …   Law dictionary

  • middle — n *center, midst, core, hub, focus, nucleus, heart …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • middle C — n. 1. the musical note on the first ledger line below the treble staff and the first above the bass staff 2. the corresponding tone or key …   English World dictionary

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