middle

The place halfway between the sides or ends of something.

• Stand in the middle.
• She cut the rope down the middle.
• A car stopped in the middle of the road.

How to use it: middle of something (Put the bowl in the middle of the table.)

Similar words: centre, midpoint

Opposites: edge

Common phrases: in the middle, middle of something, down the middle, exact middle

The part of a period or activity between its beginning and end.

• I woke up in the middle of the night.
• The story becomes exciting near the middle.
• She left in the middle of our conversation.

How to use it: middle of something (The phone rang in the middle of the lesson.)

Similar words: midpoint

Common phrases: middle of something, in the middle, towards the middle

Between other things, or halfway between the sides or ends of something.

• Put it on the middle shelf.
• She is the middle child of three.
• The middle seats were already taken.

Similar words: central

Opposites: outer

Common phrases: middle seat, middle child, middle shelf