piggy in the middlen.
/ˌpɪɡɪ ɪn ðə ˈmɪdl/, U.S. /ˌpɪɡi ᵻn ðə ˈmɪd(ə)l/ Originally and chiefly British.
1. = pig in the middle n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > children's ball games > [noun]
catchball1631
hop-ball1811
Anthony over1838
barn-ball1841
bull-pen1857
sevens1864
catch1887
pig in the middle1887
alairy1916
monkey in the middle1952
kingy1959
piggy in the middle1967
dandy shandy1978
1967 Daily Mail 6 Feb. 11/1 Spurs were playing it long out of defence and Venables looked the central part in a game of ‘piggy in the middle’.
1971 Times 12 Apr. 3/2 It would have stopped such games as piggy in the middle and hot rice.
2001 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 20 Apr. 32 A fun game to play, which will help your offensive and defensive skills, is Piggy in the Middle.
2. = pig in the middle n. 2.
ΚΠ
1970 Times 28 Feb. (Sat. Review) p. i/6 Dr. Robinson has thus been rudely abused from all sides of the shrinking Kingdom, piggy-in-the-middle of a debate which..is..fought with..bitterness.
1977 Times 1 Sept. 5/2 You have to take the decisions, and often you are the piggy in the middle; in our case, for example, between pilots and shipowners.
1992 Daily Tel. 24 July 1/4 There would have been trouble if we hadn't got between them... We have become piggy-in-the-middle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1967