3. (Mil.) The man who occupies a central position in a file of
soldiers.
Mid"dle*most` (?), a. [Cf. Midmost.] Being in the middle, or nearest
the middle; midmost.
Mid"dler (?), n. One of a middle or intermediate class in some schools
and seminaries.
Mid"dling (?), a. Of middle rank, state, size, or quality; about
equally distant from the extremes; medium; moderate; mediocre;
ordinary. "A town of but middling size." Hallam.
Plainly furnished, as beseemed the middling circumstances of its
inhabitants.
Hawthorne.
-- Mid"dling*ly, adv. -- Mid"dling*ness, n.
Mid"dlings (?), n. pl. 1. A combination of the coarser parts of ground
wheat the finest bran, separated from the fine flour and coarse bran in
bolting; -- formerly regarded as valuable only for feed; but now, after
separation of the bran, used for making the best quality of flour.
Middlings contain a large proportion of gluten.
2. In the southern and western parts of the United States, the portion
of the hog between the ham and the shoulder; bacon; -- called also
middles. Bartlett.
Mid"dy (?), n.; pl. Middies (&?;). A colloquial abbreviation of
midshipman.
Mid"feath`er (?), n. 1. (Steam Boilers) A vertical water space in a
fire box or combustion chamber.