middle
middle
/ˈmɪdl/
1 the middle singular the part of something that is at an equal distance from all its edges or sides; a point or a period of time between the beginning and the end of something in the middle a lake with an island in the middle
This chicken isn't cooked in the middle.
in the middle of something Her car was stuck in the middle of the road.
The phone rang in the middle of the night.
You can’t leave in the middle of the meeting!
His picture was right/bang (= exactly) in the middle of the front page.
I have a pain in the middle of my back.
Low temperatures in the middle of winter can kill some trees.
down the middle Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.
by the middle of something I should have finished by the middle of the week.
I like a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.
He grabbed her around the middle.
I’ve put on weight around the middle.
The work features a stuffed goat with a rubber tyre around its middle.
Idioms
middle
/ˈmɪdl/
in a position in the middle of an object, group of objects, people, etc.; between the beginning and the end of something
Pens are kept in the middle drawer.
She's the middle child of three.
He was very successful in his middle forties.
a middle-sized room
the middle-income groups in society
The film's middle section was rather dull.
Collocations
noun
Idioms
(to take/find) an acceptable course of action that avoids two extreme positions
Word Origin
Old English middel, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch middel and German Mittel.