Middle I ˈmɪdl Equal Divide Noun Lake Island

• a lake with an island in the middle
• this chicken isn't cooked in the middle.
• her car was stuck in the middle of the road.
• the phone rang in the middle of the night.

middle

1. 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
• SEE ALSO monkey in the middle
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/monkey-in-the-middle
• a lake with an island in the middle
• This chicken isn't cooked in the middle.
• 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.
• Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.
• I should have finished by the middle of the week.
• I like a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Extra Examples

• He was standing in the middle of the room.
• I was born in the middle of the war.
• It hit him bang in the middle of his forehead.
• Let's wait until the middle of April.
• They stood in the middle of the field.
• We moved to the middle of London.
2. a person’s waist
• SEE ALSO middle-of-the-road
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/middle-of-the-road
• 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.
3. to be involved in an argument or fight between two other people or groups
• When they quarrel, I am often caught in the middle.
4. to be busy doing something
• They were in the middle of dinner when I called.
• I'm in the middle of writing a difficult letter.
5. a place that is a long way from other buildings, towns, etc.
• She lives on a small farm in the middle of nowhere.
6. to divide something into two equal parts; to divide into two equal parts
• The country was split down the middle over the strike (= half supported it, half did not).
• Divide the cake down the middle.
• It would seem the community has divided down the middle, with some favouring expansion and some dead set against it.

Word Origin

• Old English middel, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch middel and German Mittel.