01 n. 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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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.“And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him.” — Luke iv. 35.“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.
Syn.
Midst, Middle.
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.