1. [n]  a position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the center jump to start the game
2. [n]  the position of the player on the line of scrimmage who puts the ball in play; "it is a center's responsibility to get the football to the quarterback"
3. [n]  the position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game
4. [n]  a building dedicated to a particular activity; "they were raising money to build a new center for research"
5. [n]  the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher; "he hit the ball to deep center"
6. [n]  mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; a modern version of the traditional marketplace; "a good plaza should have a movie house"; "they spent their weekends at the local malls"
7. [n]  a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process; "in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere"
8. [n]  the object upon which interest and attention focuses; "his stories made him the center of the party"
9. [n]  the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
10. [n]  politically moderate persons; centrists
11. [n]  the middle of a military or naval formation; "they had to reinforce the center"
12. [n]  a place where some particular activity is concentrated; "they received messages from several centers"
13. [n]  a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
14. [n]  an area that is approximately central within some larger region; "it is in the center of town"; "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle"; "they were in the eye of the storm"
15. [n]  (football) the person who plays center on the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball to the quarterback; "the center fumbled the handoff"
16. [n]  (basketball) the person who plays center
17. [n]  (ice hockey) the person who plays center
18. [adj]  of or belonging to neither the right nor the left politically or intellectually
19. [v]  focus one's attention on something; "Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies"
20. [v]  move into the center; "That vase in the picture is not centered"
21. [v]  center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work"

Center
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1. \Cen"ter\, n. [F. centre, fr. L. centrum, fr. round which
   a circle is described, fr. ? to prick, goad.]
   1. A point equally distant from the extremities of a line,
      figure, or body, or from all parts of the circumference of
      a circle; the middle point or place.
   2. The middle or central portion of anything.
   3. A principal or important point of concentration; the
      nucleus around which things are gathered or to which they
      tend; an object of attention, action, or force; as, a
      center of attaction.
   4. The earth. [Obs.] --Shak.
   5. Those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who
      support the existing government. They sit in the middle of
      the legislative chamber, opposite the presiding officer,
      between the conservatives or monarchists, who sit on the
      right of the speaker, and the radicals or advanced
      republicans who occupy the seats on his left, See {Right},
      and {Left}.
   6. (Arch.) A temporary structure upon which the materials of
      a vault or arch are supported in position until the work
      becomes self-supporting.
   7. (Mech.)
      (a) One of the two conical steel pins, in a lathe, etc.,
          upon which the work is held, and about which it
          revolves.
      (b) A conical recess, or indentation, in the end of a
          shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center,
          on which the work can turn, as in a lathe.
   Note: In a lathe the
   {live center} is in the spindle of the head stock; the
   {dead center} is on the tail stock.
   {Planer centers} are stocks carrying centers, when the object
      to be planed must be turned on its axis.
   {Center of an army}, the body or troops occupying the place
      in the line between the wings.
   {Center of a} {curve or surface} (Geom.)
      (a) A point such that every line drawn through the point
          and terminated by the curve or surface is bisected at
          the point.
      (b) The fixed point of reference in polar co["o]rdinates.
          See {Co["o]rdinates}.
   {Center of curvature of a curve} (Geom.), the center of that
      circle which has at any given point of the curve closer
      contact with the curve than has any other circle whatever.
      See {Circle}.
   {Center of a fleet}, the division or column between the van
      and rear, or between the weather division and the lee.
   {Center of gravity} (Mech.), that point of a body about which
      all its parts can be balanced, or which being supported,
      the whole body will remain at rest, though acted upon by
      gravity.
   {Center of gyration} (Mech.), that point in a rotating body
      at which the whole mass might be concentrated
      (theoretically) without altering the resistance of the
      intertia of the body to angular acceleration or
      retardation.
   {Center of inertia} (Mech.), the center of gravity of a body
      or system of bodies.
   {Center of motion}, the point which remains at rest, while
      all the other parts of a body move round it.
   {Center of oscillation}, the point at which, if the whole
      matter of a suspended body were collected, the time of
      oscillation would be the same as it is in the actual form
      and state of the body.
   {Center of percussion}, that point in a body moving about a
      fixed axis at which it may strike an obstacle without
      communicating a shock to the axis.
   {Center of pressure} (Hydros.), that point in a surface
      pressed by a fluid, at which, if a force equal to the
      whole pressure and in the same line be applied in a
      contrary direction, it will balance or counteract the
      whole pressure of the fluid.
   

2. \Cen"ter\, Centre \Cen"tre\ v. i. [imp. & p. p.
   {Centered} or {Centred}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Centering} or
   {Centring}.]
   1. To be placed in a center; to be central.
   2. To be collected to a point; to be concentrated; to rest
      on, or gather about, as a center.
            Where there is no visible truth wherein to center,
            error is as wide as men's fancies.    --Dr. H. More.
            Our hopes must center in ourselves alone. --Dryden.
   

3. \Cen"ter\, Centre \Cen"tre\, v. t.
   1. To place or fix in the center or on a central point.
      --Milton.
   2. To collect to a point; to concentrate.
            Thy joys are centered all in me alone. --Prior.
   3. (Mech.) To form a recess or indentation for the reception
      of a center.
   

4. \Cen"ter\, or Centre \Cen"tre\, seal \seal\ . (Gas
   Manuf.)
   A compound hydraulic valve for regulating the passage of the
   gas through a set of purifiers so as to cut out each one in
   turn for the renewal of the lime.
   

5. \Center\, or Centre \Centre\, punch \punch\ . (Mech.)
   (a) A punch for making indentations or dots in a piece of
       work, as for suspension between lathe centers, etc.
   (b) A punch for punching holes in sheet metal, having a small
       conical center to insure correct locating.