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say it: SEN-tur
center is a noun, verb and adjective meaning "an area that is approximately central within some larger region". It carries 23 recorded senses.
Canada · United Kingdom
the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher
“he hit the ball to deep center”
a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
Canada · United Kingdom
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”
Canada · United Kingdom
the object upon which interest and attention focuses
“his stories made him the center of the party”
Canada · United Kingdom
a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process
“in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere”
Canada · United Kingdom
the middle of a military or naval formation
“they had to reinforce the center”
military
(basketball) the person who plays center on a basketball team
basketball
a place where some particular activity is concentrated
“they received messages from several centers”
Canada · United Kingdom
politically moderate persons; centrists
mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace
“a good plaza should have a movie house”
“they spent their weekends at the local malls”
Canada · United Kingdom
the position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game
(American football) 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”
a position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the jump that starts the game
center upon
“Her entire attention centered on her children”
“Our day revolved around our work”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for center come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.