{
    "term": "middle",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the part of something 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 something",
            "sensetop": "in the middlein the middle of somethingdown the middleby the middle of something",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a lake with an island in the middle",
                    "contextForm": "in the middle"
                },
                {
                    "text": "This chicken isn't cooked in the middle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her car was stuck in the middle of the road.",
                    "contextForm": "in the middle of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The phone rang in the middle of the night."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You can’t leave in the middle of the meeting!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "His picture was **right/bang** *(= exactly)* **in the middle** of the front page."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I have a pain in the middle of my back."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Low temperatures in the middle of winter can kill some trees."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.",
                    "contextForm": "down the middle"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I should have finished by the middle of the week.",
                    "contextForm": "by the middle of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I like a story with a beginning, a middle and an end."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was standing in the middle of the room."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I was born in the middle of the war."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It hit him bang in the middle of his forehead."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Let's wait until the middle of April."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They stood in the middle of the field."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We moved to the middle of London."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a person’s waist",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Tie the rope around your middle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I’ve put on weight around the middle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The work features a stuffed goat with a rubber tyre around its middle."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be involved in an argument or fight between two other people or groups",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "When they quarrel, I am often caught in the middle."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be busy doing something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They were in the middle of dinner when I called."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I'm in the middle of writing a difficult letter."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a place that is a long way from other buildings, towns, etc.",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She lives on a small farm in the middle of nowhere."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to divide something into two equal parts; to divide into two equal parts",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The country was split down the middle over the strike *(= half supported it, half did not)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Divide the cake down the middle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It would seem the community has divided down the middle, with some favouring expansion and some dead set against it."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɪdl/",
                "audio": "mi/middle/middle__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmɪdl/",
                "audio": "mi/middle/middle__us_2.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English middel, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch middel and German Mittel."
}