piggy in the middle

noun

A game where one group has to keep an object, normally a ball, within their group and away from another group or individual.

Meanings

nounpiggy in the middle (countable and uncountable, plural piggies in the middle)

plural piggies in the middle

  1. uncountableA game where one group has to keep an object, normally a ball, within their group and away from another group or individual.
  2. countableThe player in that game from whom the object is kept away.
  3. broadlycountableuncountableKeeping something between one's own group, away from others.
  4. countableA person caught in an awkward situation between two other people.

    Millions of us who work in companies of all sizes are piggies in the middle. We are trussed up, torn between the old and the new, and just trying to make things work.

    2009, Susan Rice Lincoln, Mastering Web 2.0

Synonyms & antonyms

Cite this entry
APA

piggy in the middle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piggy%20in%20the%20middle

MLA

“piggy in the middle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piggy%20in%20the%20middle. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “piggy in the middle,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piggy%20in%20the%20middle.

Source: piggy in the middle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.