noun
middle
MIHDL
noun
1
The point or part equally distant from the edges, ends, or extremes of something.
"Put the vase in the middle of the table."
"She woke up in the middle of the night."
2
Informal: a person's waist or midsection.
"He grabbed his middle after the workout, out of breath."
adjective
1
Located halfway between two points; central.
"Take the middle road at the fork."
How to Use Middle
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe central point or part of something, whether a place, a time, or a story.
Common pairings
in the middle of
middle ground
middle of the road
Word Forms
middled past tense, middles plural, middles singular, middlemost superlative, middlest superlative
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Etymology
From Old English middel, related to "mid" and ultimately to Latin medius — all sharing the ancient Indo-European root for "between" or "in the middle."