Meaning & use
middle
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Meanings
nounusually singular
The central point or part of something, equally far from its edges or ends.
Grammar: Usually singular with the: the middle of the room.
Patterns
- the middle of something
- in the middle
She stood in the middle of the room.
Cut the cake down the middle.
The tree grew right in the middle of the field.
nounusually singular
A point halfway through a period of time or an activity.
Grammar: Often followed by of: in the middle of the night.
Patterns
- in the middle of something
- the middle of the night
The phone rang in the middle of the night.
He fell asleep in the middle of the movie.
We are in the middle of dinner right now.
adjectivebefore a noun
Located between two extremes, ends or sides.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: the middle seat.
Patterns
- the middle one
- a middle seat
I always get stuck in the middle seat on planes.
The middle child often feels overlooked.
Open the middle drawer of the desk.
adjectivebefore a noun
Moderate in size, rank or degree, neither high nor low.
Grammar: Used in set expressions: middle class, middle management.
Patterns
- the middle class
A middle path avoids both extremes.
She works in middle management at the bank.
The middle class has grown in the last decade.
nounusually singularinformal
A person's waist or the stomach area, in informal speech.
Grammar: Informal: a belt around his middle.
Patterns
- around the middle
He tied a sweater around his middle.
She gained a little weight around the middle.
Word forms
| plural | middles |
|---|
Common combinations
- in the middle of
- There is a lake in the middle of the park.
- middle of nowhere
- Our car broke down in the middle of nowhere.
- middle ground
- They found a middle ground on the budget.
- middle school
- My sister starts middle school this fall.
- middle age
- He took up cycling in middle age.
- meet in the middle
- We could not agree, so we met in the middle.
Synonyms and how they differ
- center
- Center names the exact middle point, especially of a circle or round area, whereas middle is looser and can be a wide area.
- midpoint
- Midpoint is a precise term for the point halfway between two ends and is more technical than middle.
- halfway
- Halfway describes being at an equal distance between two places or times, whereas middle names the zone itself.
- central
- Central as an adjective means in or near the main part of a place, often with the sense of importance, while middle is just a position.
Opposites
Word family
- midst noun
- the middle of a situation, as in in the midst of chaos
- mid adjective
- in the middle of something, often in compounds like mid-July
- middling adjective
- only average or fairly poor in quality
- middleman noun
- a person who buys from producers and sells to customers
- midway adverb
- halfway between two points or times
Commonly confused: middle or center? middle or midst?
middle vs center
Center names the exact middle point, while middle can describe the part around it or a stage of time.
middle vs midst
Midst is a formal word used in fixed phrases such as in the midst of, while middle is the everyday word.
Practice
The phone rang ____ the night, and I could not get back to sleep.
Choose one answer.
In the middle of is the fixed phrase for a point halfway through a period. On the middle of is the tempting wrong choice, but the preposition should be in.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “middle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.