middle distance

American  

noun

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

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

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middle-distance British  

adjective

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

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noun

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

Etymology

Origin of middle distance

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

Often shown on-screen in the middle distance or the background, her expressions always muted, Nina drifts through this slow-burn crisis without any palpable urgency or alarm.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2025

Now, aged 24, she is one of India's top middle distance para athletes.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2025

Robbie Fitzgibbon, a middle distance runner, represented his country at several international events.

From BBC • Oct. 12, 2024

After hearing the bad news, Mr. Hill walks in a daze on the ship’s deck, eyes lost in the middle distance, the official regalia of his captain’s outfit rendered absurd.

From New York Times • May 5, 2024

He sat upright in his chair, not looking at Mrs. Olinski or the blackboard but staring into the middle distance, as if looking at the word paraplegic or the paraplegic herself was too painful.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg