Word Direct Answers

What does "midst" mean?

Midst: There is nothing... in the midst [of the play] which might not have been placed in the beginning. Dryden.

Additional senses

  1. 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. 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. 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.
  2. 3.In the midst of; amidst. Shak.
  3. 4.In the middle. [R.] Milton.

Sources