nerve center

American  

noun

1. a group of nerve cells closely connected with one another and acting together in the performance of some function.

2. a source of information, authority, action, etc..

   The communications room is the nerve center of a battleship.

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Etymology

Origin of nerve center

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Located just 150 miles from Israel in the eastern Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus has emerged as a strategic — and exposed — nerve center in the U.S. offensive against Iran.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

She has joined dozens of other volunteers at the Dios Habla Hoy church, which has become a nerve center for locals opposing immigration raids.

From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026

But a growing fleet of Amazon data centers has turned the region around Umatilla into an unlikely nerve center for one of the most expensive infrastructure build-outs in U.S. history.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

The core section on this comes from Russell Vought, now the Trump-appointed director of the Office of Management and Budget, essentially the central nerve center of the federal government.

From Slate • Feb. 24, 2025

Resisting Houston’s call, not following the nerve center of the space program across the country, was difficult for Katherine and many of her Langley colleagues.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• command post
• focal point
• headquarters
• hotbed