amidships

comparative more amidships · superlative most amidships · alternative midships

1. not comparableusuallynauticalIn the middle of a ship, either longitudinally or laterally.

   The main cabin, most amidships, was 8 feet 3 inches broad …

   3 more examples

   [The U-boat captain] waited until the crosshairs lay directly amidships.

   Two more torpedoes were fired; one ran erratic; the second hit amidships.

   The saloon, instead of being at the stern, according to the old method of construction, is placed more amidships.

2. not comparableusuallynauticalUsually in the line of the keel, but sometimes halfway between bow and stern; often contracted to “midships.” (FM 55-501).
3. figurativelynot comparableusuallyOn the flank, at a vulnerable place.

   In stating that the Woosters never give up, I was in error. These words caught me amidships and took all the fighting spirit out of me, leaving me a spent force.

   1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

alternative midships

1. A helm order, normally shortened to midships!, to centre the helm in the line of the keel.