dead center

[ ded-sen-ter ]
See synonyms for: dead centerdead centers on Thesaurus.com

adverb
  1. in or at the exact midpoint: The town is located dead center between Dallas and Houston.She took a single shot and hit the cardboard figure dead center.

noun
  1. the exact center or midpoint: I live in the dead center of the capitol, and parking is a nightmare.I hate when people leave their shopping cart in the dead center of the aisle.

  2. Machinery.

    • Also called dead point . (in a reciprocating engine) either of two positions at which the crank cannot be turned by the connecting rod, occurring at each end of a stroke when the crank and connecting rod are in the same line.

    • a tapered rod, mounted in the tailstock spindle of a lathe, upon which the work to be turned is placed.: Compare live center.

Origin of dead center

1
First recorded in 1870–75

Other words from dead center

  • dead-cen·ter, adjective

Words Nearby dead center

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dead center in a sentence

  • I threw her hand off with a snarl, kept my foot rammed down hard and hit the man dead center.

    Highways in Hiding | George Oliver Smith
  • In the middle there would be a dead center, and if the block stopped here, the valve would not move at all.

    Farm Engines and How to Run Them | James H. Stephenson