2 N‑COUNT A middleman is a person who helps in negotiations between people who are unwilling to meet each other directly. □ The two sides would only meet indirectly, through middlemen.
mi d|dle ma n|age|ment N‑UNCOUNT Middle management refers to managers who are below the top level of management, and who are responsible for controlling and running an organization rather than making decisions about how it operates. [BUSINESS ] □ The proportion of women in middle management has risen to 40%. □ …middle-management jobs.
mi d|dle name (middle names )
1 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Your middle name is the name that comes between your first name and your surname. □ His middle name is Justin.
2 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] You can use middle name in expressions such as ' discretion was her middle name ' and ' his middle name is loyalty ' to indicate that someone always behaves with a great deal of a particular quality. [HUMOROUS ] □ Geniality is my middle name. I rarely write a fierce word about any restaurant.
mi ddle-of-the-roa d
1 ADJ If you describe someone's opinions or policies as middle-of-the-road , you mean that they are neither left-wing nor right-wing, and not at all extreme. □ Consensus need not be weak, nor need it result in middle-of-the-road policies.
2 ADJ If you describe something or someone as middle-of-the-road , you mean that they are ordinary or unexciting. □ I actually don't want to be a middle-of-the-road person, married with a mortgage.
3 ADJ Middle-of-the-road music is pop music which a large number of people like because it is pleasant and does not sound extreme or unusual. The abbreviation MOR is also used. □ I like cheerful, uplifting middle-of-the-road pop.
mi ddle-ra nking ADJ [ADJ n] A middle-ranking person has a fairly important or responsible position in a particular organization, but is not one of the most important people in it. □ …middle-ranking army officers.
mi d|dle school (middle schools )
1 N‑VAR [oft in names] In the United States, a middle school is a school for children in the fifth to eighth grades, between the ages of 10 and 13 or 14. □ …Harlem Park Middle School.
2 N‑VAR [oft in names] In Britain, a middle school is a state school that children go to between the ages of 8 or 9 and 12 or 13.
Mi d|dle We st N‑PROPER The Middle West is the central part of the United States.
mid|dling /m I d ə l I ŋ/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe a quality such as the size of something as middling , you mean that it is average. □ The Beatles enjoyed only middling success until 1963. □ …a man of middling height.
mid|field|er /m I dfiːldə r / (midfielders ) N‑COUNT In football, a midfielder is a player whose usual position is in the central area of the playing field between the two goals.
midge /m I dʒ/ (midges ) N‑COUNT Midges are very small insects which bite.
midg|et /m I dʒ I t/ (midgets ) N‑COUNT People who are very short are sometimes referred to as midgets . [OFFENSIVE ]
Mid|lands /m I dlənds/ N‑PROPER [with sing or pl verb] The Midlands is the region or area in the central part of a country, in particular the central part of England. □ …an engineering company in the Midlands.
mid|life cri|sis /m I dla I f kra I s I s/ (midlife crises ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] A midlife crisis is a period of doubt and anxiety that some people experience in middle age, when they think about whether their life is the kind of life that they want. □ I went through my midlife crisis about four or five years ago, when I was forty.
mid|night ◆◇◇ /m I dna I t/
1 N‑UNCOUNT Midnight is twelve o'clock in the middle of the night. □ It was well after midnight by the time Anne returned to her apartment.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Midnight is used to describe something which happens or appears at midnight or in the middle of the night. □ It is totally out of the question to postpone the midnight deadline.
3 PHRASE If someone is burning the midnight oil , they are staying up very late in order to study or do some other work. □ Chris is asleep after burning the midnight oil trying to finish his article.
mi d|night blue COLOUR Something that is midnight blue is a very dark blue colour, almost black.
mid|point /m I dpɔ I nt/ also mid-point
1 N‑SING The midpoint between two things is the point that is the same distance from both things. □ [+ between/of ] …the midpoint between Paris and Warsaw.
2 N‑SING The midpoint of an event is the time halfway between the beginning and the end of it. □ [+ of ] She has not yet reached the midpoint of her life.
mi d-ra nge ADJ [ADJ n] You can use mid-range to describe products or services which are neither the most expensive nor the cheapest of their type. □ …the price of a mid-range family car.
mid|riff /m I dr I f/ (midriffs ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] Someone's midriff is the middle part of their body, between their waist and their chest. □ …the girl with the bare midriff.
mid|sized /m I dsa I zd/ also mid-sized , midsize ADJ [ADJ n] You use midsized or midsize to describe products, cities, companies, and other things that are neither large nor small. □ …a low-cost midsized car. □ …a midsize city.
midst /m I dst/
1 PHRASE If you are in the midst of doing something, you are doing it at the moment. □ We are in the midst of one of the worst recessions for many, many years.
2 PHRASE If something happens in the midst of an event, it happens during it. □ Eleanor arrived in the midst of a blizzard.