center

American  

[sen-ter] / ˈsɛn tər /

especially British, centre

noun

1. Geometry. the middle point, as the point within a circle or sphere equally distant from all points of the circumference or surface, or the point within a regular polygon equally distant from the vertices.

   Antonyms:

   edge

2. a point, pivot, axis, etc., around which anything rotates or revolves.

   The sun is the center of the solar system.

3. the source of an influence, action, force, etc..

   the center of a problem.

4. a point, place, person, etc., upon which interest, emotion, etc., focuses.

   His family is the center of his life.

5. a principal point, place, or object.

   a shipping center.

6. a building or part of a building used as a meeting place for a particular group or having facilities for certain activities.

   a youth center; The company has a complete recreation center in the basement.

7. an office or other facility providing a specific service or dealing with a particular emergency.

   a flood-relief center; a crisis center.

8. a person, thing, group, etc., occupying the middle position, especially a body of troops.

9. the core or middle of anything.

   chocolate candies with fruit centers.

10. a store or establishment devoted to a particular subject or hobby, carrying supplies, materials, tools, and books as well as offering guidance and advice.

    a garden center; a nutrition center.

11. shopping center.

12. (usually initial capital letter)

    1. the part of a legislative assembly, especially in continental Europe, that sits in the center of the chamber, a position customarily assigned to members of the legislature who hold political views intermediate between those of the Right and Left.

    2. the members of such an assembly who sit in the Center.

    3. the political position of persons who hold moderate views.

    4. politically moderate persons, taken collectively; Centrists; middle-of-the-roaders.

       Unfortunately, his homeland has always lacked a responsible Center.

13. Football.

    1. a lineman who occupies a position in the middle of the line and who puts the ball into play by tossing it between his legs to a back.

    2. the position played by this lineman.

14. Basketball.

    1. a player who participates in a center jump.

    2. the position of the player in the center of the court, where the center jump takes place at the beginning of play.

15. Ice Hockey. a player who participates in a face-off at the beginning of play.

16. Baseball. center field.

17. Physiology. a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific organic process.

    the vasomotor center.

18. Mathematics.

    1. the mean position of a figure or system.

    2. the set of elements of a group that commute with every element of the group.

19. Machinery.

    1. a tapered rod, mounted in the headstock spindle live center or the tailstock spindle dead center of a lathe, upon which the work to be turned is placed.

    2. one of two similar points on some other machine, as a planing machine, enabling an object to be turned on its axis.

    3. a tapered indentation, in a piece to be turned on a lathe, into which a center is fitted.

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verb (used with object)

1. to place in or on a center.

   She centered the clock on the mantelpiece.

2. to collect to or around a center; focus.

   He centered his novel on the Civil War.

3. to determine or mark the center of.

   A small brass star centered the tabletop.

4. to adjust, shape, or modify (an object, part, etc.) so that its axis or the like is in a central or normal position.

   to center the lens of a telescope; to center the work on a lathe.

5. to place (an object, part, etc.) so as to be equidistant from all bordering or adjacent areas.

6. Football. snap.

7. to pass (a basketball, hockey puck, etc.) from any place along the periphery toward the middle of the playing area.

verb (used without object)

1. to be at or come to a center.

2. to come to a focus; converge; concentrate (followed by at, about, around, in, oron ).

   The interest of the book centers specifically on the character of the eccentric hero. Political power in the town centers in the position of mayor.

3. to gather or accumulate in a cluster; collect (followed by at, about, around, in, oron ).

   Shops and municipal buildings center around the city square.

idioms

1. on center, from the centerline or midpoint of a structural member, an area of a plan, etc., to that of a similar member, area, etc.: o.c.

   The studs are set 30 inches on center.

center British  

/ ˈsɛntə /

noun

1. the US spelling of centre

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center More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing center

• front and center

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Usage

Although sometimes condemned for alleged illogicality, the phrases center about and center around have appeared in edited writing for more than a century to express the sense of gathering or collecting as if around a center: The objections center around the question of fiscal responsibility.

Related Words

See middle.

Other Word Forms

• centerable
  adjective
• centerless
  adjective
• supercenter
  noun

Etymology

Origin of center

First recorded in 1325–75; variant of Middle English centre, from Latin centrum, from Greek kéntron “needle, spur, pivoting point in drawing a circle,” derivative of kenteîn “to sting”

Explanation

Whether you are the center of attention or hanging out at the recreation center, you are in the middle of it all. You might think of a circle when you think of a center, but a center is also a building or group of buildings. One five-sided place, the Pentagon in the U.S., is actually a center of government activity. A recreation center is a place where a lot of recreation happens, just as a medical center is where a lot of doctors and nurses give medical treatment. These centers are buildings or complexes where a certain kind of activity takes place, and a word before center often tells you what the activity is. As a verb, you can center your attention on something or center a centerpiece in the middle of a table.

Example Sentences

A friend reached out to Molly Duane, at the time a senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, who was representing dozens of women denied medical care under abortion bans.

From Salon • May 27, 2026

Rollins found another purpose to his art after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when he was living just six blocks from the doomed World Trade Center.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

One of the most notable, “Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert,” was recorded in Boston four days after the attack on the World Trade Center.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida managed launch services for the mission.

From Science Daily • May 26, 2026

Ellsberg called a friend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was offered a position, at half his current salary, at MIT’s Center for International Studies.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• capital
• city
• club
• heart
• hub
• mall
• market
• plaza
• shopping center
• station
• town