mid·riff

(mĭd′rĭf)

2. The middle outer portion of the front of the human body, extending roughly from just below the breast to the waistline.

[Middle English midrif, from Old English midhrif : midd, mid; see mid¹ + hrif, belly; see k^wrep- in Indo-European roots.]

mid′riff adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

midriff

(ˈmɪdrɪf)

1. (Anatomy)

a. the middle part of the human body, esp between waist and bust

b. (as modifier): midriff bulge.

2. (Anatomy) anatomy another name for the diaphragm¹

3. (Clothing & Fashion) the part of a woman's garment covering the midriff

4. (Clothing & Fashion) US a woman's garment which exposes the midriff

[Old English midhrif, from mid¹ + hrif belly]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mid•riff

(ˈmɪd rɪf)

n.

1. diaphragm (def. 1).

2. the middle portion of the human body, between the chest and the waist.

3. the part of a dress or bodice that covers this area.

4. a garment that exposes this area.

[before 1000; Old English midhrif=mid(d) mid¹ + hrif belly]

midriff

- Based on the Old English hrif, "belly," it is the front of the body between the chest and the waist.

midriff

noun

Related words
technical name diaphragm

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

الحِجاب الحاجِز

bránice

mellemgulv

Zwerchfell

diaphragme

rekeszizom

miîhluti bols

diaframma stomaco

diafragma

mellomgulv

bránica

karın bölgesiorta beden

中腹部

midriff

[ˈmɪdrɪf] N → estómago m (Med) → diafragma m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

midriff

[ˈmɪdrɪf] n → ventre m
the girl with the bare midriff → la fille au ventre nu

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

midriff

n → Taille f; a punch to the midriff → ein Schlag in die Magengegend or -grube

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

midriff

[ˈmɪdrɪf] n (diaphragm) → diaframma m; (stomach) → stomaco

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

midriff

(ˈmidrif) noun

the middle of the body just below the ribs.

mid·riff

n. diafragma.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

To me, however, did the heart writhe with laughter, and was like to break; it knew not where to go, and sunk into the midriff.

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202-223) First Loud-croaker wounded Lickman in the belly, right through the midriff. Down fell he on his face and soiled his soft fur in the dust: he fell with a thud and his armour clashed about him.

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In truth, hardy as the man was, his neck had been assuredly broken had he not pitched head first on the very midriff of the drunken artist, who was slumbering so peacefully in the corner, all unaware of these stirring doings.

View in context

As he stood there, gazing into the middle distance, an individual of dishevelled aspect sidled up, a vagrant of almost the maximum seediness, from whose midriff there protruded a trayful of a strange welter of collar-studs, shoe-laces, rubber rings, buttonhooks, and dying roosters.

View in context

He struck Apisaon son of Phausius in the liver below the midriff, and laid him low.

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His Offring soon propitious Fire from Heav'n Consum'd with nimble glance, and grateful steame; The others not, for his was not sincere; Whereat hee inlie rag'd, and as they talk'd, Smote him into the Midriff with a stone That beat out life; he fell, and deadly pale Groand out his Soul with gushing bloud effus'd.

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The company's services cover many important urban areas in Dubai such as Motor City, Dubai Investments Park, Dubai Sports City, Uptown Midriff, Midriff Hills, Hotel Palazzo Versace and DAMAC Hills, and it has also signed contracts to build and operate cooling facilities in Palm Deidra.

Union Properties to Sell Full Stake in Emicool

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that 90 per cent of the work on the cycling and running tracks at three residential districts in Dubai - Mushrif, Midriff and Al Khawaneej Project has been completed.

Dubai's cycling tracks project 90pc completed

She displayed an enviably toned She displayed an enviably toned midriff in a lime green tweed Novis crop top teamed with a matching flared skirt.

impress dressed to impress dressed to

The 32-year-old American television personality bared her midriff in a pink crop top and matching pencil skirt at the show where she revealed that she would be taking up her fiance Kayne West's name post their wedding, the Daily Star reported.

Kim Kardashian flaunts hot-bod in pink cut-down dress

Noun	1.	midriff - the middle area of the human torso (usually in front); "young American women believe that a bare midriff is fashionable" midsection, middle region, area - a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve; "in the abdominal region" torso, trunk, body - the body excluding the head and neck and limbs; "they moved their arms and legs and bodies"
	2.	midriff - (anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration diaphragm tissue layer, membrane - a pliable sheet of tissue that covers or lines or connects the organs or cells of animals or plants muscle system, muscular structure, musculature - the muscular system of an organism torso, trunk, body - the body excluding the head and neck and limbs; "they moved their arms and legs and bodies" anatomy, general anatomy - the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals