middle

1 of 2

adjective

mid·​dle ˈmi-dᵊl 

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

Synonyms

Adjective

• central
• halfway
• intermediary
• intermediate
• medial
• median
• mediate
• medium
• mid
• midmost

Noun

• golden mean
• mean
• medium
• middle ground
• midpoint

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

All three Feldstein kids were born in L.A. Hill, the family’s middle child, was born on Dec. 20, 1983, and Feldstein was born on June 24, 1993. —Julie Tremaine, People.com, 19 Oct. 2024

The results come from an annual CDC survey, which included nearly 30,000 middle and high school students at 283 schools. —TIME, 18 Oct. 2024

Noun

The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. —Kris Holt, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024

What about harm reduction for residents who live in the middle of this chaos, or for merchants whose livelihoods are threatened by theft and drug activity that drives away customers? Why not temporarily shift resources from other sectors, quadruple the outreach, and enforce existing laws? —Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024

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

Phrases Containing middle

• caught in the middle
• down the middle
• in the middle
• in the middle of
• in the middle of nowhere
• middle age
• middle C
• middle class
• middle distance
• middle ear
• middle finger
• middle game
• middle ground
• middle lamella
• middle management
• middle name
• middle of nowhere
• middle of the road
• middle school
• middle-sized
• middle temporal artery
• middle term
• piggy in the middle
• pig in the middle
• play both ends against the middle
• the middle-aged
• thick around the middle

Kids Definition

middle

1 of 2 adjective

mid·​dle ˈmid-ᵊl 

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

: waist sense 1a

3

: the position of being among or in the midst of something

in the middle of the crowd