an area that is approximately central within some larger region;"it is in the center of town" "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle" "they were in the eye of the storm"
the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher;"he hit the ball to deep center"
a building dedicated to a particular activity;"they were raising money to build a new center for research"
a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience;"the gist of the prosecutor"s argument" "the heart and soul of the Republican Party" "the nub of the story"
the object upon which interest and attention focuses;"his stories made him the center of the party"
a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process;"in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere"
the middle of a military or naval formation;"they had to reinforce the center"
(basketball) the person who plays center on a basketball team
(football) the person who plays center on the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball to the quarterback;"the center fumbled the handoff"
a place where some particular activity is concentrated;"they received messages from several centers"
politically moderate persons; centrists
(ice hockey) the person who plays center on a hockey team
the sweet central portion of a piece of candy that is enclosed in chocolate or some other covering
mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace;"a good plaza should have a movie house" "they spent their weekends at the local malls"
the position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game
(American football) the position of the player on the line of scrimmage who puts the ball in play;"it is a center"s responsibility to get the football to the quarterback"
a position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the jump that starts the game
Adjective:
equally distant from the extremes
of or belonging to neither the right nor the left politically or intellectually
Verb:
center upon;"Her entire attention centered on her children" "Our day revolved around our work"
direct one"s attention on something;"Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies"
move into the center;"That vase in the picture is not centered"
late 14c., "middle point of a circle; point round which something revolves," from Old French centre (14c.), from Latin centrum "center," originally fixed point of the two points of a drafting compass, from Greek kentron "sharp point, goad, sting of a wasp," from kentein "stitch," from PIE root *kent- "to prick" (cognates: Breton kentr "a spur," Welsh cethr "nail," Old High German hantag "sharp, pointed").
Figuratively from 1680s. Meaning "the middle of anything" attested from 1590s. Spelling with -re popularized in Britain by Johnson"s dictionary (following Bailey"s), though -er is older and was used by Shakespeare, Milton, and Pope. Center of gravity is recorded from 1650s. Center of attention is from 1868.
center (v.)
1590s, "to concentrate at a center," from center (n.). Related: Centered; centering. Meaning "to rest as at a center" is from 1620s. Sports sense of "to hit toward the center" is from 1890. To be centered on is from 1713. In combinations, -centered is attested by 1958.
