From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe middlethe middlethe part that is nearest the centre of something, and furthest from the sides, edges, top, bottom etcthe middle of We rowed out towards the middle of the lake.in the middle (of something) Jo was standing in the middle of the room. Those are my two brothers, and that’s me in the middle. The meat was burnt on the outside and raw in the middle. a huge hole right in the middle of the lawnthrough the middle (of something) The new road will go right through the middle of the wood.down the middle (of something) Draw a line down the middle of the page. → middle
Examples from the Corpus
down the middle (of something)• A lot of people put in that situation think they can throw the ball down the middle.• Later, you will break down the middle portion of these work-outs so that you will alternate quick and easy paces.• They throw to the tight end down the middle enough to have made Jones a staple in the Pro Bowl.• The Union was split now, right and left and right down the middle.• I ended up walking right down the middle of the street in the center turn lane.• That is, with a path slap down the middle, a flanking washing line and four narrow borders around the edge.• Her bottom lip is fat and purple and there's a split down the middle.• I wonder will his loyalties be split down the middle!the middlethe middlethe part of an event or period of time that is between the beginning and the endthe middle of events which took place around the middle of the last centuryin the middle (of something) I’m going to stay with some friends in the middle of May. He gets killed in the middle of the film.the middle of the night/day I got a phone call from her in the middle of the night!the middle of the week/month/year etc Everything should be sorted out by the middle of next year. → middleExamples from the Corpus
the middle of the week/month/year etc• He was ill again with tachycardia in January 1955 and in the middle of the month returned to the London Clinic.• And bear in mind that it was an hour later and in the middle of the week.• The first products supporting the Telnet/OLTP extensions are expected to be available in the middle of the year.• Wemmick advised us to move Magwitch out of the country in the middle of the week.• He has his day off in the middle of the week because we are always busy at the weekends.• In the middle of the month George Thomas, the Speaker, brought all the Cabinet together for dinner.• Isabelle Bongard is showing works by Dumas until the middle of the month.• Her latest work is being featured by Thaddeus Ropac until the middle of the month, together with paintings by Jonathan Lasker.the middlethe middlethe level or position that is between two extreme positions, for example between the best and the worst There are plenty of small houses for sale, and quite a lot of very large ones, but very little in the middle.the middle of In tests, I always seem to finish around the middle of the class. → middleExamples from the Corpus
middle of• I stood in my pyjamas shivering in the middle of Katie's bedroom, not knowing what to do.• Something struck her smartly in the middle of her shoulders and made her gasp.• At Third Avenue, two turning busses were stopped in the middle of the intersection.• Why would he want to do that in the middle of the night?• In the middle of the room was a figure tied to a post.• The logic of language carries us to the middle of the stream and drops us there.• The middle of United's notorious pitch was a swamp long before kick-off, posing the threat of stamina-sapping conditions. 