Ever need a fact or quotation on middles? Designed for speechwriters, journalists, writers, researchers, students, professors, teachers, historians, academics, scrapbookers, trivia buffs and word lovers, this is the largest book ever created for this single word. It represents a compilation from a variety of sources with a linguistic emphasis on anything relating to the term “middles,” including non-conventional usage and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities. The entries cover all parts of speech (noun, verb, adverb or adjective usage) as well as use in modern slang, pop culture, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This “data dump” results in many unexpected examples for middles, since the editorial decision to include or exclude terms is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under “fair use” conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. Proceeds from this book are used to expand the content and coverage of Webster’s Online Dictionary (www.websters-online-dictionary.org).

Familiar Quotations

Middles

Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.–Hervey Allen

Labor is the beginning, the middle, and the end of art.–Anonymous

Middle age starts when you have been warned to slow down, not by a motorcycle cop, but by your doctor.–Anonymous

To feel ''fit as a fiddle'' you must tone down your middle.–Anonymous

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.–Anonymous

You're in middle age when you realize you have more on your mind and less on your head.–Anonymous

Youth is when we are always hunting greener pastures, and middle age is when we can barely mow the one we've got.–Anonymous

You've reached middle age when the phone rings on Saturday night you pray it isn't for you.–Anonymous

Democracy is the menopause of Western society, the Grand Climacteric of the body social. Fascism is its middle-aged lust.–Jean Baudrillard

The field of politics always presents the same struggle. There are the Right and the Left, and in the middle is the Swamp. The swamp is made up of know-nothings, of them who are without ideas, of them who are always with the majority.–August Bebel

• Preface x
• Familiar Quotations 1
• Middles 1
• Middles – "Average" 3
• Middles – "Center" 4
• Middles – "Class" 4
• Middles – "Fair" 4
• Middles – "Heart" 4
• Middles – "Life" 5
• Middles – "Man" 5
• Middles – "People" 6
• Use in Literature 8
• Middles 8
• Middles – "Above" 22
• Middles – "Ages" 22
• Middles – "Alone" 25
• Middles – "Appeared" 25
• Middles – "Arms" 27
• Middles – "Around" 28
• Middles – "Beautifully" 29
• Middles – "Bed" 29
• Middles – "Beginning" 30
• Middles – "Behind" 31
• Middles – "Being" 32
• Middles – "Below" 34
• Middles – "Beyond" 34
• Middles – "Big" 35
• Middles – "Black" 35
• Middles – "Body" 36
• Middles – "Book" 37
• Middles – "Boys" 38
• Middles – "Break" 38
• Middles – "Bridge" 39
• Middles – "Broken" 39
• Middles – "Calling" 40
• Middles – "Carried" 41
• Middles – "Case" 42
• Middles – "Caught" 43
• Middles – "Century" 43
• Middles – "Chair" 45
• Middles – "Child" 45
• Middles – "Circle" 46
• Middles – "City's" 47
• Middles – "Clears" 47
• Middles – "Closed" 48
• Middles – "Clothes" 48
• Middles – "Coming" 49
• Middles – "Corner" 53
• Middles – "Country" 53
• Middles – "Court" 54
• Middles – "Curious" 55
• Middles – "Cut" 55
• Middles – "Dark" 56
• Middles – "Day" 57
• Middles – "Dead" 59
• Middles – "Deep" 60
• Middles – "Dinner" 61
• Middles – "Distance" 61
• Middles – "Divided" 63
• Middles – "Door" 63
• Middles – "Drawn" 64
• Middles – "Dressed" 65
• Middles – "Early" 66
• Middles – "Ate" 67
• Middles – "Effect" 67
• Middles – "End" 68
• Middles – "Eyes" 69
• Middles – "Family" 71
• Middles – "Far" 71
• Middles – "Father" 72
• Middles – "Feet" 72
• Middles – "Felt" 73
• Middles – "Few" 74
• Middles – "Field" 75
• Middles – "Fifteenth" 76
• Middles – "Figure" 76
• Middles – "Finger" 77
• Middles – "Fire" 78
• Middles – "Follow" 78
• Middles – "Force" 79
• Middles – "Form" 80
• Middles – "Found" 82
• Middles – "Gathered" 83
• Middles – "Girl" 84
• Middles – "Going" 84
• Middles – "Greatly" 86
• Middles – "Ground" 88
• Middles – "Hair" 89
• Middles – "Hall" 90
• Middles – "Hand" 91
• Middles – "Hanging" 92
• Middles – "Having" 93
• Middles – "Head" 94
• Middles – "Heard" 96
• Middles – "Heavily" 97
• Middles – "Hold" 97
• Middles – "Hole" 98
• Middles – "Horse" 98
• Middles – "Hours" 99
• Middles – "House" 100
• Middles – "Interest" 102
• Middles – "Island" 102
• Middles – "Kept" 103
• Middles – "Kind" 104
• Middles – "King" 105
• Middles – "Large" 106
• Middles – "Led" 108
• Middles – "Left" 109
• Middles – "Leg" 111
• Middles – "Letter" 111
• Middles – "Little" 113
• Middles – "Lived" 116
• Middles – "Looked" 116
• Middles – "Lie" 119
• Middles – "Made" 120
• Middles – "Morning" 123
• Middles – "Moved" 124
• Middles – "Name" 126
• Middles – "Near" 126
• Middles – "Night" 127
• Middles – "Note" 131
• Middles – "Nothing" 132
• Middles – "Number" 132
• Middles – "Old" 133
• Middles – "Once" 135
• Middles – "Open" 136
• Middles – "Order" 138
• Middles – "Others" 139
• Middles – "Parts" 139
• Middles – "Passed" 142
• Middles – "Past" 143
• Middles – "Path" 144
• Middles – "Personages" 144
• Middles – "Picture" 145
• Middles – "Piece" 146
• Middles – "Places" 146
• Middles – "Played" 148
• Middles – "Point" 149
• Middles – "Poor" 150
• Middles – "Populace" 150
• Middles – "Position" 151
• Middles – "Present" 151
• Middles – "Purposely" 152
• Middles – "Reached" 153
• Middles – "Regions" 155
• Middles – "Return" 156
• Middles – "River" 156
• Middles – "Road" 157
• Middles – "Room" 158
• Middles – "Round" 164
• Middles – "Rows" 165
• Middles – "Run" 165
• Middles – "Seated" 167
• Middles – "Second" 168
• Middles – "Shadow" 168
• Middles – "Shall" 169
• Middles – "Shape" 170
• Middles – "Showed" 170
• Middles – "Side" 171
• Middles – "Single" 173
• Middles – "Sat" 174
• Middles – "Size" 176
• Middles – "Soon" 177
• Middles – "Square" 177
• Middles – "Stand" 178
• Middles – "Steps" 181
• Middles – "Sticks" 181
• Middles – "Stone" 182
• Middles – "Stopped" 182
• Middles – "Stranger" 184
• Middles – "Stream" 185
• Middles – "Street" 186
• Middles – "Strong" 187
• Middles – "Struggling" 187
• Middles – "Table" 188
• Middles – "Taking" 190
• Middles – "Talking" 190
• Middles – "Tall" 191
• Middles – "Ten" 192
• Middles – "Thick" 192
• Middles – "Things" 193
• Middles – "Think" 194
• Middles – "Third" 195
• Middles – "Thus" 195
• Middles – "Town" 197
• Middles – "Tried" 197
• Middles – "True" 198
• Middles – "Valley" 198
• Middles – "Voices" 199
• Middles – "Waited" 200
• Middles – "Walked" 200
• Middles – "Water" 202
• Middles – "Week" 203
• Middles – "West" 204
• Middles – "White" 204
• Middles – "Wild" 206
• Middles – "Wind" 206
• Middles – "Window" 207
• Middles – "Winter" 207
• Middles – "Wished" 208
• Middles – "Women" 208
• Middles – "Work" 210
• Middles – "Writing" 212
• Middles – "Years" 213
• Middles – "Youth" 214
• Nonfiction Usage 216
• Script Usage 216
• Legal Usage 216
• Patent Usage 216
• Bibliographic Usage 216
• Encyclopedic Usage 222
• Lexicographic Usage 494
• Index 622