n.
- a point or part in the middle of something that is equally distant from all of its sides, ends, or surfaces.
▸the middle player in some team games.
▸(in some team games) a kick, hit, or throw of the ball from the side to the middle of the field.
- a point to or from which an activity or process is directed:
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the city was a centre of discontent.
- a place or group of buildings where a specified activity is concentrated:
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a conference centre.
v.
- place in the centre.
▸(in some team games) kick, hit, or throw (the ball) from the side to the middle of the field.
▸chiefly N. Amer. play as the middle player in some team games.
-
(centre on/around)
have as a major concern or theme.
▸
(be centred in)
occur mainly in or around.
Phrase
- centre of attention
a person or thing that excites everyone's interest or concern. - centre of attraction
- Physics the point to which bodies tend by gravity.
- another term for centre of attention.
- centre of curvature
Mathematics the centre of a circle which passes through a curve at a given point and has the same tangent and curvature at that point. - centre of excellence
a place where the highest standards are maintained. - centre of gravity
a point from which the weight of a body or system may be considered to act. In uniform gravity it is the same as the centre of mass. - centre of mass
a point representing the mean position of the matter in a body or system. - centre of pressure
Physics a point on a surface through which the resultant force due to pressure passes.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from OFr., or from L. centrum, from Gk kentron ‘sharp point, stationary point of a pair of compasses’, rel. to kentein ‘to prick’.
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