How to indent a few lines in Markdown markup?

Question

I want to write a few lines of text. They should be formatted normally except each line should start at the 6th column. I.e. I don\'t want the code block formatting rule to

Answer 1

As pointed out by @AlexDupuy in the comments, definition lists can be used for this.

This is not supported by all markdown processors, but is widely available: Markdown Guide - Definition Lists

Term 1
: definition 1
: definition 2

Term 2
: definition 1
: definition 2

Renders as (html):

    
Term 1
    
definition 1
    
definition 2
    
Term 2
    
definition 1
    
definition 2

Typically the DT is rendered in a heading-like format, and each DD is rendered as indented text beneath this.

If you don't want a heading/term, just use a non-breaking space in place of the definition term:

 
: This is the text that I want indented.  All text on the same line as the preceding colon will be included in this definition.
: If you include a second definition you'll get a new line; potentially separated by a space. 
Some inline HTML may be supported within this too, allowing you to create new lines without spaces.
: Support for other markdown syntax varies; e.g. we can add a bullet list, but each one's wrapped in a separate definition term, so the spacing may be out.
: - item 1
: - item 2
: - item 3

You can see this in action by copy-pasting the above examples to this site: Stack Edit Markdown Editor