ALL meanings of dead center
dead cen·ter
D d - noun dead center the position of maximum (top dead center) or minimum (bottom dead center) extension of a crank and a connecting rod, in which both are in the same straight line 3
- noun dead center a nonrevolving center, as of a lathe spindle 3
- noun dead center the exact center 3
- noun dead center The dead center is the position of an engine's piston when it is at the very top or bottom of its stroke. 3
- noun dead center Dead center is the exact top (top dead center) or bottom (bottom dead center) of the piston stroke in a reciprocating engine or pump. 3
- noun dead center 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. 1
- noun dead center a point, pivot, axis, etc., around which anything rotates or revolves: The sun is the center of the solar system. 1
- noun dead center the source of an influence, action, force, etc.: the center of a problem. 1
- noun dead center a point, place, person, etc., upon which interest, emotion, etc., focuses: His family is the center of his life. 1
- noun dead center a principal point, place, or object: a shipping center. 1
- noun dead center 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. 1
- noun dead center an office or other facility providing a specific service or dealing with a particular emergency: a flood-relief center; a crisis center. 1
- noun dead center a person, thing, group, etc., occupying the middle position, especially a body of troops. 1
- noun dead center the core or middle of anything: chocolate candies with fruit centers. 1
- noun dead center 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. 1
- noun dead center shopping center. 1
- noun dead center (usually initial capital letter) Government. 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. the members of such an assembly who sit in the Center. the political position of persons who hold moderate views. politically moderate persons, taken collectively; Centrists; middle-of-the-roaders: Unfortunately, his homeland has always lacked a responsible Center. 1
- noun dead center Football. 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. the position played by this lineman. 1
- noun dead center Basketball. a player who participates in a center jump. the position of the player in the center of the court, where the center jump takes place at the beginning of play. 1
- noun dead center Ice Hockey. a player who participates in a face-off at the beginning of play. 1
- noun dead center Baseball. center field. 1
- noun dead center Physiology. a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific organic process: the vasomotor center. 1
- noun dead center Mathematics. the mean position of a figure or system. the set of elements of a group that commute with every element of the group. 1
- noun dead center Machinery. 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. one of two similar points on some other machine, as a planing machine, enabling an object to be turned on its axis. a tapered indentation, in a piece to be turned on a lathe, into which a center is fitted. 1
- verb with object dead center to place in or on a center: She centered the clock on the mantelpiece. 1
- verb with object dead center to collect to or around a center; focus: He centered his novel on the Civil War. 1
- verb with object dead center to determine or mark the center of: A small brass star centered the tabletop. 1
- verb with object dead center 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. 1
- verb with object dead center to place (an object, part, etc.) so as to be equidistant from all bordering or adjacent areas. 1
- verb with object dead center Football. snap (def 21). 1
- verb with object dead center to pass (a basketball, hockey puck, etc.) from any place along the periphery toward the middle of the playing area. 1
- verb without object dead center to be at or come to a center. 1
- verb without object dead center to come to a focus; converge; concentrate (followed by at, about, around, in, or on): 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. 1
- verb without object dead center to gather or accumulate in a cluster; collect (followed by at, about, around, in, or on): Shops and municipal buildings center around the city square. 1
- idioms dead center 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.: The studs are set 30 inches on center. Abbreviation: o.c. 1
- noun dead center 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. 1
- noun dead center exact centre, precise middle 1
- adverb dead center precisely in the middle 1
- noun dead center (Idiomatic) The exact center, as of a target. 0
- noun dead center The position of the crank of a piston when it is in line with the connecting rod. 0