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 ]

☞ 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. 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 ]