midst

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

midst
    n 1: the location of something surrounded by other things; "in
         the midst of the crowd" [syn: {midst}, {thick}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Midst \Midst\, n. [From middest, in the middest, for older in
   middes, where -s is adverbial (orig. forming a genitive), or
   still older a midde, a midden, on midden. See {Mid}, and cf.
   {Amidst}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The interior or central part or place; the middle; -- used
      chiefly in the objective case after in; as, in the midst
      of the forest.
      [1913 Webster]

            And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he
            came out of him.                      --Luke iv. 35.
      [1913 Webster]

            There is nothing . . . in the midst [of the play]
            which might not have been placed in the beginning.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence, figuratively, the condition of being surrounded or
      beset; the press; the burden; as, in the midst of official
      duties; in the midst of secular affairs.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The expressions in our midst, in their midst, etc., are
         avoided by some good writers, the forms in the midst of
         us, in the midst of them, etc., being preferred.
         [1913 Webster]

   Syn: {Midst}, {Middle}.

   Usage: Midst in present usage commonly denotes a part or
          place surrounded on enveloped by or among other parts
          or objects (see {Amidst}); while middle is used of the
          center of length, or surface, or of a solid, etc. We
          say in the midst of a thicket; in the middle of a
          line, or the middle of a room; in the midst of
          darkness; in the middle of the night.
          [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Midst \Midst\, prep.
   In the midst of; amidst. --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Midst \Midst\, adv.
   In the middle. [R.] --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

32 Moby Thesaurus words for "midst":
      amid, amidst, among, amongst, between, betwixt,
      betwixt and between, center, core, diameter, diaphragm, equator,
      heart, interior, kernel, mean, median, mid, middle, midmost,
      midpoint, midriff, nucleus, over, thick, thick of things,
      throughout, together with, waist, waistline, with, zone