Midst

Midst
Midst Midst, n. [From middest, in the middest, for older in middes, where -s is adverbial (orig. forming a genitive), or still older a midde, a midden, on midden. See {Mid}, and cf. {Amidst}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The interior or central part or place; the middle; -- used chiefly in the objective case after in; as, in the midst of the forest. [1913 Webster]

And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him. --Luke iv. 35. [1913 Webster]

There is nothing . . . in the midst [of the play] which might not have been placed in the beginning. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

2. Hence, figuratively, the condition of being surrounded or beset; the press; the burden; as, in the midst of official duties; in the midst of secular affairs. [1913 Webster]

Note: The expressions in our midst, in their midst, etc., are avoided by some good writers, the forms in the midst of us, in the midst of them, etc., being preferred. [1913 Webster]

Syn: {Midst}, {Middle}.

Usage: Midst in present usage commonly denotes a part or place surrounded on enveloped by or among other parts or objects (see {Amidst}); while middle is used of the center of length, or surface, or of a solid, etc. We say in the midst of a thicket; in the middle of a line, or the middle of a room; in the midst of darkness; in the middle of the night. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • midst — [ mıdst ] noun uncount * in the midst of something FORMAL 1. ) while something else is happening: Nixon went to China in the midst of a crisis at home. 2. ) if you are in the midst of something, you are doing it or it is affecting you: Our… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • midst — [midst, mitst] n. [ME middest, prob. merging of middes, gen. of mid (with unhistoric t) + middest, superl. of mid,MID1] the middle or central part: now mainly in phrases as below prep. Old Poet. in the midst of; amidst; amid SYN. MIDDLE in our… …   English World dictionary

  • midst — is now most commonly used in the phrases in the midst of or in our (etc.) midst, meaning ‘among, in the middle of’. Typical contexts are both physical and abstract: • There was…something sinister about this place, unhusbanded and yieldless in the …   Modern English usage

  • Midst — Midst, prep. In the midst of; amidst. Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • midst — archaic or literary ► PREPOSITION ▪ in the middle of. ► NOUN ▪ the middle point or part. ● in our (or your, their, etc.) midst Cf. ↑in your/their midst …   English terms dictionary

  • Midst — Midst, adv. In the middle. [R.] Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • midst — index center (central position) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • midst — (n.) c.1400, from M.E. middes (mid 14c.), from MID (Cf. mid) + adverbial genitive s. The parasitic t is perhaps on model of superlatives (Cf. AGAINST (Cf. against)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • midst — middle, *center, core, hub, focus, nucleus, heart …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • midst — [n] middle, core betwixt and between*, bosom, center, deep, depths, halfway, heart, hub, interior, mean, medium, midpoint, nucleus, thick; concept 830 Ant. exterior, exteriority, outside …   New thesaurus

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