middle distance

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noun

Also called middle ground, middle plane. Fine Arts. the represented space between the foreground and background in paintings, drawings, etc.

(in track) a race distance ranging from 400 meters or 440 yards to 1 mile.

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Origin of middle distance

First recorded in 1805–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use middle distance in a sentence

Low-hanging clouds nestle among the layers of mountains; horses and cows graze in the middle distance.
Will Coffee Rust Hurt Starbucks?|Nina Strochlic|June 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hamilton competed in middle-distance running at the Games in 1992, 1996, and 2000 but never scored a medal.
A Peek at Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton’s Escort Service|Eliza Shapiro|December 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Kipketer currently holds eight of the 17 all-time fastest 800m times, a middle-distance track event.
What Makes a Great Olympian? Sometimes It’s Genetics|Jon Entine|August 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Behind her, in the middle distance, he sees a train racing toward the intersection.
Parents Need to Act Against Climate Change for Their Kids’ Sake|Mark Hertsgaard|July 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Her wide-set eyes sometimes drifted to the middle distance as her co-stars answered questions.
Dakota Fanning Grows Up|Gina Piccalo|November 17, 2009|DAILY BEAST
It was a well-executed wood-cut, showing a dingue in the foreground and, to give scale, a mammoth in the middle distance.
In Search of the Unknown|Robert W. Chambers
In the middle distance ahead of her she could see the summits of Bulbarrow and of Nettlecombe Tout, and they seemed friendly.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles|Thomas Hardy
The Bird Woman chose the middle distance, and for a last time cautioned the Angel as she moved away to lie down and shoot high.
Freckles|Gene Stratton-Porter
My idea is that what artists call middle distance is better suited to her colouring.
The Second Latchkey|Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson
I look into the jumbled stores of the middle distance of memory, and Beckenham seems to me a quite transitory phase.
Tono Bungay|H. G. Wells

British Dictionary definitions for middle distance

middle-distance

adjective

athletics relating to or denoting races of a length between the sprints and the distance events, esp the 800 metres and the 1500 metres

noun middle distance

Also called: middle ground part of a painting, esp a landscape between the foreground and far distance

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012