Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The area of a fair, carnival, circus, or exposition where sideshows and other amusements are located.
  • noun The middle of a way or distance.
  • noun A middle course of action or thought.
  • adverb In the middle of a way or distance; halfway.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In the middle of the way or distance; half-way.
  • noun The middle; the midst.
  • noun A middle way or manner; a mean or middle course between extremes.
  • Being in the middle of the way or distance; middle.
  • noun A middle way or path: also attributively: as, ‘the Midway Plaisance,’ a part of the exhibition park at the World's Fair in Chicago (1893), projecting from the park at a point midway between the north and south sides.
  • noun Hence A place for booths and side-shows at a fair.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The middle of the way or distance; a middle way or course.
  • adjective Being in the middle of the way or distance.
  • adverb In the middle of the way or distance; half way.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The middle; the midst.
  • noun A middle way or manner; a mean or middle course between extremes.
  • noun US The part of a fair or circus where rides, entertainments, and booths are concentrated.
  • adjective Being in the middle of the way or distance; middle.
  • adverb Halfway; equidistant from either end point; in the middle between two points

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun naval battle of World War II (June 1942); American planes based on land and on carriers decisively defeated a Japanese fleet on its way to invade the Midway Islands
  • adverb at half the distance; at the middle
  • adjective equally distant from the extremes
  • noun the place at a fair or carnival where sideshows and similar amusements are located

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English mydwaye, mydweye, from Old English midweġ ("midway"), equivalent to mid- +‎ way. Cognate with Dutch midweg ("midway"), Middle Low German midwech ("midway").

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Examples

  • Looking up, I spotted my wife, who wore an expression midway between prayer and frozen fear.

    Mastering the Ceremonies Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • Looking up, I spotted my wife, who wore an expression midway between prayer and frozen fear.

    Mastering the Ceremonies Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • Toledo half-jokingly gave himself the title midway through 2009, but he's hoping the job will be more than a kicking post this year.

    New Orleans Saints Central 2010

  • That would explain why he defined the term midway through his award.

    DailyHowler.com 2009

  • If you share my aversion to rides (I love ‘em, it’s my inner ear that can’t stand ‘em), then the midway is only slightly less noisy and unpleasant than the battle of the same name.

    The first sentence I wrote today… ewillett 2009

  • I jumped in midway through season 6 and I've been watching ever since.

    Stargate SG-1 Watchathon - 'Children of the Gods, Pt. 1' 2009

  • He wristed a shot past Conklin midway through the third for his fifth goal of the season.

    USATODAY.com 2008

  • Perry quickly poked it back across the crease to Selanne for an easy tap-in midway through the first.

    USATODAY.com 2008

  • So without further ado, it is clear that the existance of “at” (no matter how good it may sound to me) simply cuts off the sentence in midway, leaving it incomplete and fragmented.

    Where are you (at)? « Motivated Grammar 2008

  • Sacramento began to blow it open again midway through the second.

    USATODAY.com 2008

Comments

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  • 'The floodlights were up and the carny boss had laid out the midway with his marking stakes.'

    - Nightmare Alley, William Lindsay Gresham

    July 1, 2012