middle

1 of 2

adjective

mid·​dle ˈmi-dᵊl How to pronounce middle (audio)
1
: equally distant from the extremes : medial, central
the middle house in the row
2
: being at neither extreme : intermediate
3
capitalized
a
: constituting a division intermediate between those prior and later or upper and lower
Middle Paleozoic
b
: constituting a period of a language or literature intermediate between one called Old and one called New or Modern
Middle Dutch
4
of a verb form or voice : typically asserting that a person or thing both performs and is affected by the action represented

middle

2 of 2

noun

1
: a middle part, point, or position
2
: the central portion of the human body : waist
3
: the position of being among or in the midst of something
in the middle of the crowd
4
: something intermediate between extremes : mean
5
: the center of an offensive or defensive formation
especially : the area between the second baseman and the shortstop
Phrases
middle of nowhere
: an extremely remote and isolated place
ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere

Examples of middle in a Sentence

Adjective during the century's middle decades High temperatures today should be in the middle 80s. Franklin D. Roosevelt's middle initial stood for “Delano.” Noun A good essay will have a clear beginning, middle, and end. He stood exactly in the middle of the room. She opened the book to the middle and began to read. The car stopped in the middle of the road. The house should be finished by the middle of next summer. The beginning and ending of the movie were good, but the middle was pretty boring. She put her arms around his middle. He tied the sash around his middle.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The couple's middle child is named after his grandfather. Stephanie Kaloi, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024 The middle child of seven siblings, Frohna always had big dreams of moving to Hollywood to be in the movie business. Adrienne Davis, Journal Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2024 High temperatures are expected to range from the middle 60s to lower 70s by Thursday. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 8 Mar. 2024 In the 19th minute, Anders collected a middle pass near the top of the box, but her turnaround blast was blocked away by Souvanaphong. Jim Lindgren, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024 The middle part—the forest—will remain, for the foreseeable future, mostly unintelligible. Jaron Lanier, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2024 Thoma Bravo uses its flagship PE fund for big transactions, but also has pools for middle market companies, named Discover, as well as Explore for lower middle market. Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 As far as what to expect, the first week of March is more problematic on the logistical side of things, and the middle part of the month is more likely to bum you out. Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Feb. 2024 In paparazzi shots, Lopez can be seen exiting Rockefeller center in a plunging hot pink dress with an equally dramatic thigh slit, her hair worn down and straight with a distinct middle part. Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 18 Feb. 2024
Noun
By the middle of the decade, the rockets remained unlaunched, but the AIDS epidemic had killed thousands of Americans, many of them gay New Yorkers. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 Now, at the direction of state regulators, city officials are devising an ambitious plan to move about a thousand people into shelter by the middle of next year. Ethan Varian, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024 To fulfill the most ambitious goals in the agreement, countries are supposed to slash global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, reaching net zero by the middle of the century. Justine Calma, The Verge, 1 Mar. 2024 The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is typically the hardest one to deduce. Kris Holt, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 After his mother’s death, Wright’s 90-year-old aunt Naomi, who had helped raise him, moved up from Washington and began experiencing her own health issues — all in the middle of the covid pandemic. Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024 The main memorial for victims sits in the middle of the island and was erected in the 1960s by the family of a resident, Sally Bohan, who walks by most days. Claire Moses, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024 After having flirted with the idea around the middle of the last century, Porsche finally released its first series-production sedan at the end of the aughts. Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 29 Feb. 2024 But that dream life turned into a nightmare for the couple last week, as they are now presumed dead and their boat was found ransacked in middle of the ocean. Emily Palmer, Peoplemag, 27 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'middle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English middel, from Old English; akin to Old English midde

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of middle was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near middle

Cite this Entry

“Middle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/middle. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

middle

1 of 2 adjective
mid·​dle ˈmid-ᵊl How to pronounce middle (audio)
1
: equally distant from the ends or sides
2
: being at neither extreme : intermediate
of middle size
3
capitalized : constituting an intermediate division or period
Middle Paleozoic

middle

2 of 2 noun
1
: a middle part, point, or position : center
2
3
: the position of being among or in the midst of something
in the middle of the crowd

More from Merriam-Webster on middle

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