center

American  

[sen-ter] / ˈsɛn tər /

especially British, centre

noun

• centers
  plural

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)

• centers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• centered,
  past participle,  past
• centering
  present participle

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)

• centers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• centered,
  past participle,  past
• centering
  present participle

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.

Synonym Usage

See middle.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercenter
  noun
• centerable
  adjective
• centerless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• centers
  plural

Participles

• centering
  present
• centered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• center
  simple
• centers
  simple
• have centered
  perfect
• has centered
  perfect
• am centering
  progressive
• are centering
  progressive
• is centering
  progressive
• have been centering
  perfect progressive
• has been centering
  perfect progressive

Past

• centered
  simple
• had centered
  perfect
• was centering
  progressive
• were centering
  progressive
• had been centering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will center
  simple
• will have centered
  perfect
• will be centering
  progressive
• will have been centering
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

center centers centered centering

The object at the center of the dispute was Molly, a mechanical yellow bird mounted on the store’s wall and used in its magic shows.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

The UAE is a big hub for data-center investment, but projects there have their own challenges, including reliable power, cooling, water availability, connectivity, building permits and the economics of the data center in question.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

At the center of the discovery is the hypothalamus, a small but powerful region near the base of the brain.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

The next time Ortiz saw her husband was through a glass pane at a federal holding center in downtown Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

At last she pointed to a second tier in the center of a large block.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

At my last review he threw something at me I didn’t see coming — a private syndicate in the UAE that invests in data centers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

SWI announced Monday that it has raised 800 million euros, or around $900 million, to fund the upgrading and expansion of its data centers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Their discovery centers on a surprisingly overlooked factor called "local pH," which describes the acidity or alkalinity in the immediate surroundings of an electrode.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

For investors who want a connection to the AI theme, Oleaga said about 15% of Techtronic’s sales are currently coming through distributors to support construction and maintenance of data centers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

One type of damage that revival centers are powerless to undo.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Until now, much of the effort to improve organic electrosynthesis has centered on familiar factors, including the electrical voltage, the materials used for electrodes, and the composition of the liquid in which reactions occur.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

But “Tender Loving Care,” centered on two social service workers navigating the fraying social safety net and, in one case, anxiety about aging parents, possesses a bracing humanity full of compassion and urgency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Porsche’s base case is centered on the lower end of these target ranges, based on relatively conservative assumptions, it adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Greene-Placentia, a former long-haul trucker, told the Times she didn't want the details of her alleged attack to overshadow her campaign platform centered on health care and affordability.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

I could see it now—a blue star centered on a white field, surrounded by a red border.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

The original’s success paved the way for a surge in shows centering Black life in America, including “Living Single,” “Moesha” and “Martin.”

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026

“My job is to always be centering folks in the work.”

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

This year, “A Very Laufey Day” will include experiences in 75 cities across 25 countries, centering on the theme of “A Celebration of the Arts.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Hershey Pa.’s Christian Pulisic set up a sequence that led to a Paraguay own goal, and then, not long after, zipped a centering pass to the 24-year-old Balogun to make it 2-0.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

One by one the cut stones of the ribs, called voussoirs, were hoisted onto the centering and mortared into place by the masons.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

Related Words

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