cen·ter (s?n?t?r)n.1. A point or place that is equally distant from the sides or outer boundaries of something; the middle: the center of a stage.2. a. A point equidistant from the vertices of a regular polygon.b. A point equidistant from all points on the circumference of a circle or on the surface of a sphere.3. A point around which something rotates or revolves: The sun is the center of our solar system.4. A part of an object that is surrounded by the rest; a core: chocolates with soft centers.5. a. A place where a particular activity or service is concentrated: a medical center.b. A point of origin, as of influence, ideas, or actions: a center of power; a center of unrest.c. An area of dense population: a metropolitan center.6. A person or thing that is the chief object of attention, interest, activity, or emotion.7. A person, object, or group occupying a middle position.8. often Center A political group or a set of policies representing a moderate view between those of the right and the left.9. Physiology A group of neurons in the central nervous system that control a particular function: the vasomotor center.10. a. Sports A player who holds a middle position on the field, court, or forward line in some team sports, such as hockey and basketball.b. Football An offensive lineman who snaps the ball to begin a play, usually positioned in the middle of the line.c. Baseball Center field.11. a. A small conical hole made in a piece of work with a center punch so that a drill can be accurately positioned within it.b. A bar with a conical point used to support work, as during turning on a lathe.12. Architecture a. A centering.b. A point in space equidistant from all the points on an arch or on a portion of an arch.v. cen·tered, cen·ter·ing, cen·ters v.tr.1. To place in or at the center: centered the vase on the table.2. To direct toward a center or central point; concentrate or focus: tried to center the discussion on the main issues.3. Sports a. To pass (a ball or puck) toward the center of a playing area.b. To play as a center on (a line), as in ice hockey.4. Football To hike (the ball) to begin a down.v.intr.1. To be concentrated; cluster: The epidemic centered in the urban areas.2. To have a central theme or concern; be focused: Her novels center on the problems of adolescence.3. Sports To play as a center.[Middle English centre, from Old French, from Latin centrum, from Greek kentron, center of a circle, from kentein, to prick; see kent- in Indo-European roots.]Usage Note: As a verb center can represent various relations involving having, finding, or turning about a center. The choice of a preposition to accompany center depends on the meaning one wants to convey. For certain physical uses, the Usage Panel favors in more than at. In our 1996 ballot, 73 percent found in acceptable, but only 23 percent accepted at in the sentence The company has been centered (in/at) Atlanta for the last five years. · In figurative contexts, there is ample evidence for center in, on, upon, and around. In our 2006 survey, for example, 91 percent of the Panel accepted center on in the sentence The discussion centered on the need for curriculum reform. Some language critics have denounced center around as illogical?if something is in the center, after all, it cannot be “around” something else. Nonetheless, 71 percent of the Usage Panel accepted center around in the 1996 survey, suggesting that, logical or not, center around must be considered a standard idiom. But if the expression does not seem a comfortable fit, revolve around offers itself as a substitute that clearly evokes an orbiting body. See Usage Note at equal.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.center (?s?nt?) n, vb the US spelling of centreCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014cen?ter (?s?n t?r) n. 1. 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. 2. a point, pivot, or axis around which something rotates or revolves. 3. the core or middle of something. 4. the source of an influence, action, or force: the center of a problem. 5. a focus of interest or concern. 6. a principal point, place, or object: a shipping center. 7. a building or part of a building used as a meeting place or having facilities for activities. 8. an office or other facility providing a service or dealing with a particular emergency. 9. a person, thing, or group occupying the middle position, esp. a body of troops. 10. a store or establishment devoted to a particular subject or hobby: a garden center. 11. shopping center. 12. (usu. cap.) a. (esp. in continental Europe) the members of a legislative assembly who hold views intermediate between those of the Right and Left, customarily seated in the center of the chamber. b. individuals or groups holding moderate views, esp. in politics. c. the moderate position held by these people. 13. a. a football lineman in the middle of the line who puts the ball into play by tossing it between his legs to a back. b. the position played by this lineman. 14. a. a basketball player, usu. the team’s tallest, who plays close to and in front of the basket. b. this position or role. 15. an ice hockey player who participates in a face-off at the beginning of play. 16. Math. a. the mean position of a figure or system. b. the set of elements of a group that commute with every element of the group. 17. a tapered rod, mounted in the headstock spindle or the tailstock spindle of a lathe, upon which the work to be turned is placed. v.t. 18. to place in or on a center. 19. to collect to or around a center; focus: He centered his novel on the Civil War. 20. to determine or mark the center of. 21. to adjust, shape, or modify (an object, part, etc.) so that its axis or the like is in a central or normal position. 22. Football. snap (def. 19). v.i. 23. to be at or come to a center. 24. to come to a focus; converge; concentrate (fol. by at, about, around, in, or on). 25. to gather or accumulate in a cluster; collect (fol. by at, about, around, in, or on). Also, esp. Brit.,centre.[1325?75;