dead center

American  

[ded sen-ter] / ˈdɛd ˈsɛn tər /

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.

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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.

   1. 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.

   2. a tapered rod, mounted in the tailstock spindle of a lathe, upon which the work to be turned is placed.

Other Word Forms

• dead-center adjective

Etymology

Origin of dead center

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Jon M. Chu, who made the second part of a musical adaptation with “Wicked: For Good,” sits dead center — and has been known to talk to the theater manager if the sound isn’t loud enough.

From Los Angeles Times

In the town of Ishinomaki, dead center along the coast of Miyagi, residents were lulled into a false sense of security by the early tsunami predictions.

From Literature

But the Dodgers needed just four batters to match that with Andy Pages belting a three-run homer, his ninth of the season, to dead center in the bottom of the inning.

From Los Angeles Times

"RoboCop" endures and we are still talking about it almost four decades later because of the social and political issues it confronted, right there, dead center in the film.

From Salon

Julio Rodriguez ended Williams’ run of scoreless innings and his personal home run drought, crushing a sinker over the wall in dead center for this third homer of the year.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• center
• omphalos