middle body

middle body (plural middle bodies)

1. (nautical) The part of a vessel adjacent to the midship section having a uniform or nearly uniform cross-section, usually referred to as the parallel middle body.
   • 1919, William McEntee, “The Propulsion of Cargo Ships with Parallel Middle Body”, in Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, volume 31, page 263:

     In those experiments the different models used had varying lengths of parallel middle body distributed equally forward and abaft the midship section.

2. (anatomy) The midsection of the body.
   • 2006, Julia A. McMillan et al., chapter 17, in Oski's Pediatrics, →ISBN, page 149:

     Buttocks, lower back, and perineum burns occur when a child's middle body is forcibly held under hot water.

• afterbody
• forebody
• lower body
• upper body