<B>midshipman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a student at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis or any other school for training officers for the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps. <DD><B> b. </B>the rank held by such a student, immediately below that of a commissioned officer. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a graduate of British naval schools until he is made sublieutenant. <DD><B> b. </B>an officer of the same rank in training on a ship. <DD><B> 3. </B>a boy or young man who assisted the officers of a ship in former times. </DL>
<B>midst</B> (1), noun, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the middle point or part; center; middle. <DD><I>adv. </I> in the middle place. <BR> <I>Ex. To extol him first, him last, him midst, and without end (Milton).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in our midst,</B> </I>among us. <BR> <I>Ex. a traitor in our midst.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in the midst of,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>in the middle of; surrounded by; among. </I> <I>Ex. in the midst of a forest. And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them [His disciples] (Matthew 18:2).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>in the thick of; during. <BR> <I>Ex. in the midst of a day's work.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midst">
<B>midst</B> (2) or <B>'midst, </B>preposition.<DL COMPACT><DD> in the midst of; amidst; amid. <BR> <I>Ex. They left me 'midst my enemies (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midstream">
<B>midstream, </B>noun, adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the middle of a stream. <BR> <I>Ex. The boat was kept in midstream. (Figurative.) the midstream of history.</I> <DD><I>adj., adv. </I> in midstream. <BR> <I>Ex. The two boats collided midstream (adv.). The two boats were in a midstream collision (adj.).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midsummer">
<B>midsummer, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the middle of summer. <BR> <I>Ex. the intense heat of midsummer.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the time of the summer solstice, about June 21. <BR> <I>Ex. the sun at midsummer.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> in the middle of the summer. <BR> <I>Ex. a midsummer festival.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midsummerday">
<B>Midsummer Day,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in England) June 24, one of the quarter days. </DL>
<A NAME="midsummermadness">
<B>midsummer madness,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the height of madness. <BR> <I>Ex. Why, this is very midsummer madness (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midterm">
<B>midterm, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the middle of a term of office, school, or appointment. <BR> <I>Ex. Kennedy at midterm had changed. No longer did one think of him first as the youngest President elected by his countrymen (John L. Steele).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Informal.) an examination held during the middle of a school term. <DD><I>adj. </I> occurring at, or having to do with, midterm. <BR> <I>Ex. The university was in midterm recess (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midtown">
<B>midtown, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the middle section of a city or town, between downtown and uptown. <BR> <I>Ex. He had reached midtown before he remembered the package.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or located in midtown. </DL>
<A NAME="midvictorian">
<B>mid-Victorian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of the middle period of Queen Victoria's reign in Great Britain, or from about 1850 to 1890. <BR> <I>Ex. mid-Victorian architecture, a mid-Victorian novel.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>like this period; strict in morals; old-fashioned. (SYN) prudish. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person who lived during the middle period of Queen Victoria's reign. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person with old-fashioned ideas and tastes, and strict in morals. </DL>
<A NAME="midwatertrawl">
<B>midwater trawl,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a trawl dragged by two boats for snaring such fish as herring and cod. </DL>
<A NAME="midway">
<B>midway, </B>adjective, adverb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> in the middle; halfway. <BR> <I>Ex. a midway position.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> halfway. <BR> <I>Ex. midway between the hill and the city.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a middle way or course. <BR> <I>Ex. no midway 'Twixt these extremes at all (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a place for games, rides, and other amusements at a fair or exposition. <BR> <I>Ex. the clamor and excitement of the midway.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midweek">
<B>midweek, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the middle of the week. <BR> <I>Ex. By midweek the newspapers found it necessary to give short "missiles for the layman" courses (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> in the middle of the week. </DL>
<A NAME="midweek">
<B>Midweek, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> Wednesday. It is so called by the Quakers. </DL>
<A NAME="midweekly">
<B>midweekly, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> in the middle of the week. </DL>
<B>Midwesterner, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who lives in the Middle West; Middle Westerner. </DL>
<A NAME="midwife">
<B>midwife, </B>noun, pl. <B>-wives,</B> verb, <B>-wifed,</B> <B>-wifing</B> or <B>-wived,</B> <B>-wiving.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a woman who helps women in childbirth, especially a woman trained by schooling or experience. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a person who helps to bring forth something new. <BR> <I>Ex. This remarkable machine has been giving its midwives--among others--some headaches ... since it came into operation (New Scientist).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to help bring forth (something new). <BR> <I>Ex. Down the years since W. C. Handy midwifed the blues ... (Time). Central banks might take a hand ... in midwiving such an operation (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midwifery">
<B>midwifery, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the art or practice of helping women in childbirth; obstetrics. </DL>
<A NAME="midwifetoad">
<B>midwife toad,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> either of two small toads about two inches long of central and southwestern Europe; obstetrical toad. </DL>
<A NAME="midwing">
<B>mid-wing, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with an airplane having the wings attached halfway up the side of the fuselage. <BR> <I>Ex. a mid-wing design.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midwinter">
<B>midwinter, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the middle of winter. <BR> <I>Ex. the chill of midwinter.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the time of the winter solstice, about December 21. <BR> <I>Ex. the low sun at midwinter.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(formerly) Christmas. <DD><I>adj. </I> in the middle of the winter. <BR> <I>Ex. midwinter chill.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="midworld">
<B>mid world,</B> <B>=Midgard.</B></DL>
<A NAME="midyear">
<B>midyear, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> happening in the middle of a year. <BR> <I>Ex. a midyear dividend, a midyear examination.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>midyears,</B> (Informal.) <B>a. </B>midyear examinations. <BR> <I>Ex. The student passed all his midyears.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the period during which these examinations are held. <BR> <I>Ex. I'd breezed through the fall semester, been on Dean's List at midyears, ... and now was failing (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="miee">
<B>M.I.E.E.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. </DL>
<A NAME="mien">
<B>mien, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the manner of holding the head and body; way of acting and looking. <BR> <I>Ex. George Washington had the mien of a soldier.</I> (SYN) bearing, demeanor, appearance. </DL>
<A NAME="miff">
<B>miff, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>noun </I> a peevish fit; petty quarrel. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a little quarrel, or miff, as it is vulgarly called, rose between them (Henry Fielding).</I> (SYN) huff, tiff. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to be offended; have a petty quarrel. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to offend. <BR> <I>Ex. She was miffed at the idea that she could be mistaken.</I> </DL>
<B>mig</B> or <B>migg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Dialect.) a marble, especially one used as the object in the game of marbles. </DL>
<A NAME="mig">
<B>MIG</B> or <B>Mig, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various Russian-designed jet fighter planes (the type and model being indicated by a number). <BR> <I>Ex. The MIG-21J is ... the most advanced aircraft in the MIG series and is able to fly at supersonic speeds at sea level (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="might">
<B>might</B> (1), verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> the past tense of <B>may</B> (1). <BR> <I>Ex. Mother said that we might play in the barn. He might have done it when you were not looking.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="might">
<B>might</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>great power; strength. <BR> <I>Ex. Work with all your might.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>operative power (whether great or small). <BR> <I>Ex. To the measure of his might each fashions his desires (Wordsworth).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>with might and main,</B> </I>with all one's strength. <BR> <I>Ex. They fell to work and belabored each other with might and main (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mighthavebeen">
<B>might-have-been, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>something that might have happened. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a junk heap of might-have-beens, the unfulfilled promises of worlds that never were (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person or thing that might have been greater or more eminent. <BR> <I>Ex. Gustav Mahler, when he died in 1911, left behind one of the most tantalising might-have-beens in musical history: his unfinished Tenth Symphony (Sunday Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mightily">
<B>mightily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in a mighty manner; powerfully; vigorously. <BR> <I>Ex. Samson strove mightily and pulled the pillars down.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>very much; greatly. <BR> <I>Ex. We were mightily pleased at winning.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mightiness">
<B>mightiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>power; strength. <DD><B> 2. </B>Often, <B>Mightiness.</B> as with <I>your, his,</I> or <I>her,</I> and often preceded by <I>high,</I> a title of dignity (now used ironically). </DL>
<A NAME="mightless">
<B>mightless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without might; powerless; impotent. </DL>
