<B>middle class,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the class of people between the very wealthy class and the class of unskilled laborers and unemployed people. The middle class includes businessmen, professional people, office workers, and many skilled workers. In Great Britain, it includes the class socially and conventionally between the aristocratic class and the laboring class, such as professional men, bankers, owners of businesses, and small gentry. </DL>
<A NAME="middleclass">
<B>middle-class, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, or characteristic of, the middle class; bourgeois. <BR> <I>Ex. She was the most obnoxious variety of snob: the middle-class woman who has married into the fringe of society (Leonard Merrick).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middledistance">
<B>middle distance,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the part midway between the foreground and the remote region, as in a painting or the like. <DD><B> 2. </B>any race from 440 yards up to and sometimes including the mile. </DL>
<A NAME="middledutch">
<B>Middle Dutch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Dutch language from about 1100 to about 1500. </DL>
<A NAME="middleear">
<B>middle ear,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the hollow space between the eardrum and the inner ear; tympanum. In human beings it contains three small bones which pass on sound waves from the eardrum to the inner ear. </DL>
<A NAME="middleeastern">
<B>Middle Eastern,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the Middle East, the region where Asia, Africa, and Europe meet. </DL>
<A NAME="middleenglish">
<B>Middle English,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the period in the development of the English language between Old English and Modern English, lasting from about 1100 to about 1500. <DD><B> 2. </B>the English language of this period. Chaucer wrote in Middle English. (Abbr:) ME (no periods). </DL>
<B>middle finger,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the third finger of the hand, between the forefinger and the ring finger. </DL>
<A NAME="middlefrench">
<B>Middle French,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the French language from about 1400 to about 1600. (Abbr:) MF (no periods). </DL>
<A NAME="middlegame">
<B>middle game,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the middle of a game of chess, during which the most intricate moves are made. </DL>
<A NAME="middlegreek">
<B>Middle Greek,</B> =Medieval Greek.</DL>
<A NAME="middleground">
<B>middle ground,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a course between two extremes. <BR> <I>Ex. Between these two concepts there is no middle ground, no halfway house (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a shallow place, such as a bank or bar. <BR> <I>Ex. Where a middle ground exists in a channel, each end of it will be marked by a buoy (Sailor's Pocket Book).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=middle distance </B>(def. 1). </DL>
<A NAME="middlehighgerman">
<B>Middle High German,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the High German language spoken in central and southern Germany from about 1050 to about 1500. (Abbr:) MHG (no periods). </DL>
<A NAME="middleincome">
<B>middle-income, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>being between the wealthy and the poor; belonging to the middle class. <BR> <I>Ex. The surprise was the mayor's strength in the populous outer boroughs, with their heavy concentrations of middle-income whites (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or for middle-income people. <BR> <I>Ex. middle-income housing.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middleirish">
<B>Middle Irish,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Irish language from about 900 to about 1400. </DL>
<A NAME="middlelamella">
<B>middle lamella,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) the primary layer of a plant cell wall, composed chiefly of calcium pectate, on which, in older cells, secondary layers of cellulose are deposited. </DL>
<A NAME="middlelowgerman">
<B>Middle Low German,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Low German language spoken in northern Germany from about 1050 to about 1500. </DL>
<A NAME="middleman">
<B>middleman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a trader or merchant who buys goods from the producer and sells them to a retailer or directly to the consumer. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who acts as a go-between for two persons or groups concerned in some matter of business. <DD><B> 3. </B>a man in the middle of a row or line, especially the interlocutor in a minstrel troupe. </DL>
<A NAME="middlemanager">
<B>middle manager,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person occupying an intermediate position in management, such as an executive who is responsible for day-to-day operations but not for overall policymaking. <BR> <I>Ex. The last year has been an especially difficult one for middle managers, with the recession shutting off a normal avenue of protest against the boss, i.e., changing jobs (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middlemost">
<B>middlemost, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> in the exact middle; nearest the middle; midmost. </DL>
<A NAME="middlename">
<B>middle name,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a name often following a first name and preceding a family or last name. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a well-known characteristic. <BR> <I>Ex. Service is that company's middle name.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middleoftheroad">
<B>middle-of-the-road, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>moderate, especially in politics; shunning extremes. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the drift of the South away from its ancient conservatism toward a more middle-of-the-road variety of politics (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) of or having to do with a style of performing popular music that appeals to a broad audience. <BR> <I>Ex. preferring the greater craft and professionalism of such middle-of-the-road singers as the Carpenters (William Livingstone).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middleoftheroader">
<B>middle-of-the-roader, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a moderate, especially in politics. <BR> <I>Ex. Middle-of-the-roaders try to strike a balance between pleasing Washington and following their own line of thought and research (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middlepassage">
<B>middle passage,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the passage across the Atlantic Ocean formerly made by ships carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies or America. </DL>
<A NAME="middleregister">
<B>middle register,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the range of a voice midway between the head and chest registers, especially in singing. </DL>
<B>middle school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any school intermediate between elementary school and senior high school. </DL>
<A NAME="middletemple">
<B>Middle Temple,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the Inns of Court in London. </DL>
<A NAME="middleterm">
<B>middle term,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Logic.) the term in the major and minor premises of a syllogism but not in the conclusion. </DL>
<A NAME="middlevoice">
<B>middle voice,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Grammar.) the form of the verb, in Greek and some other languages, which is regularly passive in form but active in meaning, and that normally expresses reflexive or reciprocal action that affects the subject or intransitive conditions. </DL>
<A NAME="middleware">
<B>middleware, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> computer software designed for the particular needs of a system. <BR> <I>Ex. The available computer has only one large file store. By appropriate middleware, which extends the file handling facilities in the control programs, a situation can be created in which the application programs are able to behave as if they each had their own separate file (Science Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="middleway">
<B>middle way,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a course between extremes. </DL>
<A NAME="middleweight">
<B>middleweight, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person, especially a man, of average weight. <DD><B> 2. </B>a boxer or wrestler who weighs more than 147 pounds and less than 160. </DL>
<A NAME="middlewestern">
<B>Middle Western,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the Middle West, a part of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains, east of the Rocky Mountains, north of the Ohio River and the southern boundaries of Missouri and Kansas. </DL>
<A NAME="middlewesterner">
<B>Middle Westerner,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a native or inhabitant of the Middle West, a part of the United States, west of the Appalachian Mountains, east of the Rocky Mountains, north of the Ohio river and the southern boundaries of Missouri and Kansas. </DL>
<A NAME="middling">
<B>middling, </B>adjective, adverb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>medium in size, quality, grade, or other characteristic; ordinary; average. <BR> <I>Ex. the abundant consumption of middling literature (Matthew Arnold).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>mediocre; second-rate. <DD><I>adv. </I> (Informal or Dialect.) moderately; fairly. <BR> <I>Ex. I've got a middlin' tight grip, sir, On the handful o' things I know (John Hay).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>middlings,</B> <B>a. </B>products of medium size, quality, grade, or price. <BR> <I>Ex. There are often middlings in a coal-washing process (Science News).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>coarse particles of ground wheat mixed with bran, used in making a very nutritious flour. <BR> <I>Ex. The smaller chunks go to purifiers that remove the bran by means of air currents. The purified endosperm, called middlings at this stage, is ground and sifted to produce white flour (W. B. Dohoney).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Dialect.) pork or bacon from between the ham and shoulder. <BR> <I>Ex. The price of middlings has gone up this week.</I> adv. <B>middlingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="middy">
<B>middy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Informal.) a midshipman. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=middy blouse.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="middyblouse">
<B>middy blouse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a loose blouse like a sailor's, having a collar with a broad flap at the back, worn by children and young girls. </DL>
<B>midfield, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the middle of a sports field. </DL>
<A NAME="midfielder">
<B>midfielder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a lacrosse player stationed in midfield. </DL>
<A NAME="midflight">
<B>mid-flight, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the middle of flight. <BR> <I>Ex. When bats are caught in mid-flight, their wings are often broken (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the middle of any action or procedure. <BR> <I>Ex. a career in mid-flight, music in mid-flight.</I> </DL>
