amidships

Adverb

amidships (not generally comparable, comparative more amidships, superlative most amidships)

1. (not comparable, usually) In the middle of a ship, either longitudinally or laterally.
   • [The U-boat captain] waited until the crosshairs lay directly amidships.
   • Two more torpedoes were fired; one ran erratic; the second hit amidships.
2. (not comparable, usually) Usually in the line of the keel, but sometimes halfway between bow and stern; often contracted to “midships.” (FM 55-501).
3. (figuratively, not comparable, usually) On 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

Interjection

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