, mid-'air noun [U] a place in the air or the
sky, not on the ground A; ii:$: The bird caught the insects in mid-air. 4Alt IE 7IIA„ ► mid-air adj.: a mid-air
collision FE$A£A£ft$£}i Midas touch /‘maidas tAtJV noun (usually the Midas touch)
[sing.]
the ability to make a financial
success of everything you do KKIEHlfl From
the
Greek myth in which King Midas was given the power to turn everything he
touched into gold. W. g #
mws*
mid-At lantic adj. [only before noun] 1 connected with the area on the east coast of the
the mid-Atlantic states/coast
2 in the middle of the
kp# (>
mid-brain /'midbrein/ noun (anatomy ffi) a small central part of the
brain AM
mid-day 0-w /.mid'dei/ noun [U]
mid die 0-w /'midi/ noun, adj.
m noun 1 the middle [sing ] the part of sth that is at an equal
distance from all its edges or sides; a point or a period of time between the
beginning and the end of sth A10]; A hP ; A A; A 7: a lake
with an island in the middle AAW^A/b$i(ft'$3
0 He was standing in the middle of the room, life, M & M A
(ft A10] o 0 The phone rang in the middle of the night. Alklt Al&T 0
This chicken isn’t cooked in the middle.
Big. o
His
picture was right/bang (= exactly) in the middle of the front page. {ffe^MAftJAAAJfeftJlEAAo 0 Take a sheet of paper and
draw a line down
the middle. # ft
— , % A |h] Hj — 0 0 I should have
finished by the middle of the week.
M Wt M %
* o — see also monkey in the middle, piggy
in the middle 2 [C, usually sing.] (informal)
a person’s waist ®f§P: He grabbed
her around the middle.
IEIB1 be in the middle of sth/of doing sth to be busy doing sth 'It A #
: They were in the middle of dinner when I called. h ffe it ift , IMl IE
FE
tS % o 0 I’m in the middle
of writing a difficult letter. $ IE £ ^ ^
ift fs o the middle of
nowhere (informal) a place that is a long way from other buildings,
towns, etc. fisc (ft fife A: She lives on a small farm in the middle of nowhere. MiAA —*yH)wjS(ft M&o ,split/di,vide sth down the 'middle to divide sth into two equal parts
A
; A A # (ft W A: The country was split down the middle over the strike
(= half
supported it, half did not). IS
■ adj. [only before noun] in
a position in the middle of an object, group of objects, people, etc. between
the beginning and the end of sth A la] (ft ; A A (ft ; ^ A (ft; IE A (ft:
Pens are kept in the middle drawer. AlftSPAttflMo 0 She’s the middle child of three. HA IA7, o He was very successful in his
middle
forties. life
A0 f-EA^ o a middle-sized room
A^fAA(ftJ??|bJ 0 the middle-income groups in society %h 'kA % «[fc A |5/F M ITilBl (steer, take,
etc.) a middle course [ (find, etc.) a/the middle 'way (to take/find) an
acceptable course of action that avoids two extreme positions ( A ) AlSIitSfr;
.( M ) AW:£ilL; ( ) #1
.middle 'age noun [U] the period of your life when
you are neither young nor old, between the ages of about 45 and 60 A A ( 45 # £ij 60 ^ £ £ ) : a pleasant woman in early/late middle age $'l AJ A A (ft /
.middle-'aged adj. 1 (of a person A) neither young nor old AAlft 2 the middle aged noun [pi.] people who
are middle-aged 3 (disapproving) (of a person’s
attitudes or behaviour A (ft
& fk * If A) rather boring and old-fashioned ffl A (ft; ilM'lft
the .Middle 'Ages noun [pi.] in European
history, the period from about AD iooo to AD 1450 A1ft£E ( m&±W&7C 1000 AAJ 1450 ftl)o/t , middle-age spread (also middle-aged spread) noun [U] (humorous) the fat around the
stomach that some people develop in middle age AA^$§ ( SSA
.Middle
A'merica noun [u] the middle class
in the
middle-brow /'midlbrau/ adj. [usually before noun] (usually disapproving) (of books, music, art,
etc. A H, #A. z^*#) of good quality but not needing a lot of thought to
understand i&jft—$Hft; AW Eft —compare
HIGHBROW, LOWBROW
.middle
'C noun [U] the musical note C
near the middle of the piano keyboard
.middle
'class noun [C+sing./pl. v.] the social class whose
members are neither very rich nor very poor and that includes professional and
business people 4* A Eft IS;
A ^ itft AI^M: the upperAower middle
class
AAflLh / flwTttft O the growth of the middle classes A
IS (ft ft A — compare upper class, working class .middle-'class adj. 1 connected with the
middle social class A A fiff IS a
middle-class
background/family/suburb A A1 K 2
(disapproving) typical of people from
the
middle social class, for
example having traditional views ASAAfifTlSIffelft; ^WAAM^M&lft;
a. middle-class
attitude 0 The magazine is very
middle-class. the .middle 'distance noun [sing.] the part of a painting
or a view that is neither very close nor very far away A A: His eyes were
fixed on a small house in the middle distance. ftyiHir Lift—
.middle-'distance
adj. [only before noun] (sport ft) connected with running
a race over a distance that is neither very short nor very long ( ) ASE^llft: cl
middle-distance runner (= for example,
somebody who runs 800 or 1500 metre races) (
in 800
**1500 )
.middle
'ear noun [sing.] the part of the ear
behind the eardrum, containing
the little bones that transfer sound vibrations
the .Middle 'East (also less frequent the .Near 'East)
noun [sing.] an area that covers
East ► .Middle 'Eastern (also less frequent .Near ' Eastern) adj.
.Middle
'
mi
.Middle
'English noun [u] an old form of
English that was used between about AD 1150 and AD 1500 AA^
ip ( tmm\5b
M 1500 AlftiftAit ) —compare Old English
.Middle-Euro'pean
adj. of or related to
central Europe or its people gJcJfH ArP
( A ) (ft; AI& ( A ) W .middle 'finger noun the longest finger in
the middle of each hand A jf — picture o body 'middle ground noun [U] a set of opinions,
decisions, etc. that two or more groups who oppose each other can agree on; a
position that is not extreme AlWli^; A l'ft $1 A ; Negotiations have
failed to establish any middle ground, ifc AJ A M * If Al ^ 1^> 0 o The ballet company now
occupies the middle ground between classical ballet and modern dance. o& A Kif ^0 A?X(ft