middle ground
- an intermediate position, area, or recourse between two opposites or extremes; a halfway or neutral standpoint.
- middle distance(def 1).
- Nautical. a length of comparatively shallow water having channels on both sides.
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Origin of middle ground
First recorded in 1775–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for middle ground
Contemporary Examples
“I have chosen a ‘middle-ground’ method of moderation, a sort of behind-the-scenes prodding,” he wrote in a posting.
The latest research suggests a middle-ground, and it's worth looking at what they were trading.
This McClatchy-Marist poll tells us that a middle-ground approach would be popular across the board.
Historical Examples
And yet I return to a prior stand-point and insist that there is a middle-ground, even here, the juste milieu, as the French say.
The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and FashionHenry Lunettes
An island has formed and is still growing near the mouth of the Wang-poo, known to pilots as the "middle-ground."
The Siberian Overland Route from Peking to Petersburg,Alexander Michie
It would be difficult to find a middle-ground and distance surpassing those of this picture.
Then the work passes to the middle-ground painters, who have their half-tone pots within easy reach.
Amos Kilbright; His Adscititious ExperiencesFrank R. Stockton
Between these two points is no middle-ground, either in the fields of Art or of Religion.
Garden-Craft Old and NewJohn D. Sedding
middle ground
- another term for middle distanceSee middle-distance (def. 2)
- a position of compromise between two opposing views, parties, etc
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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