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.]
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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.
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And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he
came out of him. --Luke iv. 35.
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There is nothing . . . in the midst [of the play]
which might not have been placed in the beginning.
--Dryden.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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