middle
part of speech
noun (the middle, middles); adjective (middle)
meaning for a pupil
1) The middle is the part that is halfway between the two ends or sides. In a row of three, the middle one is the second. tree →
2) The middle of a time is the part between its start and end: the middle of the night. tree →
3) Middle as an adjective means in the centre: the middle finger, the middle child. tree →
4) «In the middle of doing something» means busy doing it now. tree →
5) Middle can also mean medium, neither loud nor quiet, as in a middle voice. tree →
sense in the lessons
a place in a row, line or shape; sometimes the middle number of a list (the median), or the middle step of a story (beginning, middle, end); phrases «in the middle», «middle school», «middle name», «the Middle Ages»
examples
- Tom stands in the middle of the line. tree →
- Cut the ribbon in the middle. tree →
- There are 4 people on each side of the one in the middle. tree →
- What is the middle number of 3, 7 and 9? tree →
- I woke up in the middle of the night. tree →
- She is the middle child of three. tree →
- My middle name is James. tree →
- Sorry, I'm in the middle of my homework. tree →
- said the Middle Bear in his middle voice. tree →
note
«In the middle» of a line often means equal numbers on both sides, so total = 2 × side + 1. Cutting «in the middle» gives two equal halves. Trap: do not forget to count the middle one itself. The middle number of an ordered list is the median; with an even count there are two middle numbers.
In the corpora
- Change is hard for the people in the middle of it, and their worries are real.
- In the Middle Ages narwhal tusks were sold in Europe as unicorn horns and were worth more than their weight in gold.
- Musk oxen form a ring facing outwards, with calves in the middle, so wolves meet only a wall of horns.
- When wolves come, musk oxen stand in a ring with the calves in the middle and their horns pointing out.
- Red blood cells are made in the bone marrow, the soft middle of big bones, about 2 million every second.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «middle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.