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midway

 
Dictionary: mid·way   (mĭd'') pronunciation
n.
  1. The area of a fair, carnival, circus, or exposition where sideshows and other amusements are located.
  2. Obsolete.
    1. The middle of a way or distance.
    2. A middle course of action or thought.
adv.
In the middle of a way or distance; halfway: midway through the second quarter of the football game.

midway mid'way' adj.

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Word Origin: midway
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Origin: 1893

Before it became the place for the sideshow, the Midway began as an elegant example of urban planning. Ambitious to improve its ambiance as well as its reputation, Chicago in the late nineteenth century adopted the motto Urbs in Horto ("City in a garden") and developed an extensive system of parks and lakes. Six miles south of the city center, the Park Commission laid out Jackson Park on the waterfront and Washington Park inland, with a park one mile long and just one block wide connecting the two. Envisioning grand boulevards and waterways along this link, the planners in 1871 named it the Midway Plaisance.

For twenty years Midway remained an obscure local designation. But in 1893 it caught the attention of the world thanks to its association with America's most successful world's fair, the Columbian Exposition belatedly celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage. All of the grand white electric-lit buildings in Greek and Roman styles, exhibiting the world's accomplishments and cultures, were located on handsome lagoons in Jackson Park. If you just wanted to have fun, you went to the tents on the Midway. There, away from the grounds of the fair proper, and thus without scandal, you could watch the belly dancer known as Little Egypt, who was said to take off all her clothes as she danced the Coochee-Coochee. You could also ride the world's first Ferris wheel.

Ever since, the avenue of games, rides, and other sideshows at a fair, circus, or carnival has been known as the midway. The name still carries associations of down-to-earth pleasures and naughtiness, as well as the grand feeling of being in the midst of things. But while the original Midway Plaisance still exists, it has long since reverted to a city park and is now surrounded by the University of Chicago. Stripped of its pleasure tents, drained of its canals, and crisscrossed by streets, it is now a long grassy playground for the games and sports of university students and other neighbors.



Word Tutor: midway
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Halfway.

pronunciation We were midway through the test when the bell rang for it to be over.

Wikipedia: Midway
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Midway may refer to:

  • Midway (fair), a place at a fair or circus where rides, entertainment, and booths are concentrated

Places and Events

  • Midway Atoll, a low-lying coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, a possession of the United States of America
  • The Battle of Midway, a World War II battle fought around, on, and in the air over that atoll. This was the turning point of World War II in the Pacific (1941-45).
    • Midway (film), a 1976 movie with Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda
    • Miracle at Midway, a definitive history of the Battle of Midway, written by the historian Gordon Prange and his associates.
    • Midway (game), a board game by Avalon Hill
Canada
United States

Vessels

Other uses


Translations: Midway
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Dansk (Danish)
adv. - midtvejs
adj. - midtvejs-
n. - (US) del af udstilling el. marked med forlystelser

Nederlands (Dutch)
halverwege, straat met kramen (bij kermis etc.)

Français (French)
adv. - à mi-chemin, au milieu de
adj. - de mi-course, de mi-parcours
n. - (US) attractions foraines

Deutsch (German)
adj. - auf halbem Wege
adv. - auf halbem Wege
n. - Konzessions- u. Schaustellerstraße

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - μεσοστρατίς, στη μέση της απόστασης
adv. - μεσοστρατίς, στη μέση της απόστασης
n. - μισό απόστασης

Italiano (Italian)
a mezza strada

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - situado a meio caminho
adv. - a meio caminho
n. - metade do caminho

Русский (Russian)
полпути, на полпути

Español (Spanish)
adv. - a mitad de camino, a medio camino, equidistante de
adj. - relativo o perteneciente a una avenida central, situado a mitad de camino
n. - avenida central, medio camino, mitad del camino

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - halvvägs
adv. - halvvägs
n. - nöjesfält, attraktioner

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
中途, 中途的, 中间的, 娱乐场, 中间

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 中途
adj. - 中途的, 中間的
n. - 中途, 娛樂場, 中間

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 중간에
adj. - 중간의
n. - 복도

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 中途の
adv. - 中途に
n. - 中間広場

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) طريق وسط (ظرف) بتوسط (الاسم) منتصف الطريق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮במחצית הדרך‬
adj. - ‮במחצית הדרך‬
n. - ‮יריד (צפון אמריקה)‬


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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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