middle ground
41
4.2
- noun
:
término medio
- After a long discussion, they finally reached a middle ground that satisfied both sides.
- find a middle ground
- seek a middle ground
- occupy a middle ground
Is there not a middle ground in all of this?
- Is there not a middle ground in all of this?
- There's not a lot of, you know, middle ground when it comes to choking.
- So at the end, he chose the middle ground and didn't take sides basically.
- So he's kind of finding a middle ground, not identifying with either party.
- Because biopics in a weird way, need that middle ground.
- So we have to find some sort of middle ground.
- Or three, I proposed kind of a middle ground.
- So you're trying to find that middle ground.
- Compromise is when we find a middle ground that we both can be good with, all right?
- So it's hard to to find the middle ground.
Examples
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Ultimately, the Obama administration will have to find a middle ground.
Academic text (2011) -
And they tried to find a kind of middle ground between these two positions.
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Is there not a middle ground in all of this?
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And is there a middle ground, do you think, to it?
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It's really that perfect middle ground of a foundation finish for me.
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But I also experienced this middle ground where I was able to go longer.
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Maybe we could come up with some middle ground, - find some common language.
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Reality, as is often the case, lies somewhere in this messy middle ground.
Academic text (2011) -
Surely there had to be some middle ground, a way to avoid being absurd or cruel?
Fiction book (1991) -
Maybe there's a middle ground between those two perspectives.
Synonyms
76
3.2
Shared ideas or interests that help people agree and work together
Antonyms
How Moderate
309
4.1
363
2.5
41
4.2
24
5.1
- Literature
65
6.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an intermediate position or area of agreement' is directly compositional from 'middle' (intermediate) + 'ground' (position/area), using a simple spatial metaphor for compromise that follows normal English noun-noun composition. This pattern is common across languages and in English usage, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Middle ground comes from the simple image of land lying between two sides, with middle meaning the centre and ground meaning the land. So, when people meet on the middle ground, neither side is all the way one way and the phrase means 'a compromise'.