Dictionary entry details
• CENTER (noun)
Meaning:
An area that is approximately central within some larger region
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
center; middle; centre; heart; eye
Context examples:
it is in the center of town / they ran forward into the heart of the struggle / they were in the eye of the storm
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
area; country (a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
midstream (the middle of a stream)
seat (a center of authority (as a city from which authority is exercised))
midfield ((sports) the middle part of a playing field (as in football or lacrosse))
medical center (the part of a city where medical facilities are centered)
inner city (the older and more populated and (usually) poorer central section of a city)
hub (a center of activity or interest or commerce or transportation; a focal point around which events revolve)
financial center (the part of a city where financial institutions are centered)
storm center; storm centre (the central area or place of lowest barometric pressure within a storm)
central city; city center; city centre (the central part of a city)
center stage; centre stage (the central area on a theater stage)
Instance hyponyms:
City of London; the City (the part of London situated within the ancient boundaries; the commercial and financial center of London)
Meaning:
The piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
centerfield; center field; center
Context example:
he hit the ball to deep center
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
parcel; parcel of land; piece of ground; piece of land; tract (an extended area of land)
Holonyms ("center" is a part of...):
outfield (the area of a baseball playing field beyond the lines connecting the bases)
Meaning:
A building dedicated to a particular activity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
center; centre
Context example:
they were raising money to build a new center for research
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
student center (a center for student activities at a college or university)
settlement house (a center in an underprivileged area that provides community services)
service club (a recreational center for servicemen)
research center; research facility (a center where research is done)
control center (the operational center for a group of related activities)
conference center; conference house (a center where conferences can be conducted)
civic center; community center (a center where the members of a community can gather for social or cultural activities)
call center; call centre (a center equipped to handle a large volume of telephone calls (especially for taking orders or serving customers))
burn center (a center where patients with severe burns can be treated)
Meaning:
A point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
midpoint; centre; center
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
point (the precise location of something; a spatially limited location)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
nucleus ((astronomy) the center of the head of a comet; consists of small solid particles of ice and frozen gas that vaporizes on approaching the sun to form the coma and tail)
nucleus (the positively charged dense center of an atom)
core (the central part of the Earth)
nombril (the center point on a shield)
navel; navel point (the center point or middle of something)
core (the center of an object)
center of mass; centre of mass (point representing the mean position of the matter in a body)
bight (the middle part of a slack rope (as distinguished from its ends))
center of curvature; centre of curvature (the center of the circle of curvature)
bowels (the center of the Earth)
bull; bull's eye (the center of a target)
center of gravity; centre of gravity (the point within something at which gravity can be considered to act; in uniform gravity it is equal to the center of mass)
Meaning:
The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
nitty-gritty; essence; inwardness; heart and soul; pith; gist; nub; substance; meat; kernel; core; sum; marrow; heart; center
Context examples:
the gist of the prosecutor's argument / the heart and soul of the Republican Party / the nub of the story
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
cognitive content; content; mental object (the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
stuff (a critically important or characteristic component)
quintessence (the purest and most concentrated essence of something)
haecceity; quiddity (the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other)
hypostasis ((metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality)
bare bones ((plural) the most basic facts or elements)
Meaning:
The object upon which interest and attention focuses
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
center of attention; center
Context example:
his stories made him the center of the party
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
object (the focus of cognitions or feelings)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
conversation piece (something interesting that stimulates conversation)
crosshairs (a center of interest)
cynosure (something that strongly attracts attention and admiration)
eye-catcher (a striking person or thing that attracts attention)
Meaning:
A cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Synonyms:
nerve center; nerve centre; centre; center
Context example:
in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
neural structure (a structure that is part of the nervous system)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
respiratory center (the center in the medulla oblongata and pons that integrates sensory information about the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood and determines the signals to be sent to the respiratory muscles)
inferior colliculus (an essential auditory center in the midbrain)
superior colliculus (an essential visual center between the retina and the striate cortex)
Wernicke's area; Wernicke's center (the auditory word center; located in the posterior part of the superior temporal convolution in most people)
Broca's area; Broca's center; Broca's convolution; Broca's gyrus; convolution of Broca (the motor speech center in the left hemisphere of the brain in most people)
olfactory brain; rhinencephalon (a center in the cerebral hemispheres that governs the sense of smell in lower animals; in humans it seems to mediate complex emotional behavior)
auditory center (the part of the brain (in a fold of the cerebral cortex of the temporal lobe on both sides of the brain) that receives impulses from the ear by way of the auditory nerve)
Meaning:
The middle of a military or naval formation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Context example:
they had to reinforce the center
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
formation (an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit)
Domain category:
armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)
Meaning:
(basketball) the person who plays center on a basketball team
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
basketball player; basketeer; cager (an athlete who plays basketball)
Domain category:
basketball; basketball game; hoops (a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop)
Instance hyponyms:
Bill Russell; Russell; William Felton Russell (United States basketball center (born in 1934))
Meaning:
(football) the person who plays center on the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball to the quarterback
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
snapper; center
Context example:
the center fumbled the handoff
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
lineman (one of the players on the line of scrimmage)
Domain category:
football; football game (any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal)
Meaning:
A place where some particular activity is concentrated
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
centre; center
Context example:
they received messages from several centers
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
place; property (any area set aside for a particular purpose)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "center"):
capital (a center that is associated more than any other with some activity or product)
nerve center; nerve centre (a center that provides information and control)
Meaning:
Politically moderate persons; centrists
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
class; social class; socio-economic class (people having the same social or economic status)
Meronyms (members of "center"):
centrist; middle of the roader; moderate; moderationist (a person who takes a position in the political center)
Meaning:
(ice hockey) the person who plays center on a hockey team
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
hockey player; ice-hockey player (an athlete who plays hockey)
Domain category:
hockey; hockey game; ice hockey (a game played on an ice rink by two opposing teams of six skaters each who try to knock a flat round puck into the opponents' goal with angled sticks)
Meaning:
The sweet central portion of a piece of candy that is enclosed in chocolate or some other covering
Classified under:
Nouns denoting foods and drinks
Synonyms:
centre; center
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
confection; sweet (a food rich in sugar)
Holonyms ("center" is a substance of...):
chocolate candy (candy made with chocolate)
Meaning:
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
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
shopping mall; shopping centre; shopping center; plaza; mall; center
Context examples:
a good plaza should have a movie house / they spent their weekends at the local malls
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
mercantile establishment; outlet; retail store; sales outlet (a place of business for retailing goods)
Meronyms (parts of "center"):
food court (an area (as in a shopping mall) where fast food is sold (usually around a common eating area))
Meaning:
The position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
position ((in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player)
Holonyms ("center" is a member of...):
hockey team (a team that plays ice hockey)
Meaning:
The position of the player on the line of scrimmage who puts the ball in play
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
it is a center's responsibility to get the football to the quarterback
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
lineman (the position of a player on a football team who is stationed on the line of scrimmage)
Holonyms ("center" is a member of...):
eleven; football team (a team that plays football)
Meaning:
A position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the jump that starts the game
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("center" is a kind of...):
position ((in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player)
Holonyms ("center" is a member of...):
basketball team; five (a team that plays basketball)
• CENTER (adjective)
Meaning:
Equally distant from the extremes
Synonyms:
center; halfway; midway; middle
Similar:
central (in or near a center or constituting a center; the inner area)
Meaning:
Of or belonging to neither the right nor the left politically or intellectually
Similar:
centrist; middle-of-the-road (supporting or pursuing a course of action that is neither liberal nor conservative)
Antonym:
left (of or belonging to the political or intellectual left)
right (of or belonging to the political or intellectual right)
• CENTER (verb)
Meaning:
Center upon
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Synonyms:
revolve around; revolve about; focus on; concentrate on; center on; center
Context examples:
Her entire attention centered on her children / Our day revolved around our work
Hypernyms (to "center" is one way to...):
bear on; come to; concern; pertain; refer; relate; touch; touch on (have to do with or be relevant to)
Sentence frames:
Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Meaning:
Direct one's attention on something
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
rivet; pore; focus; concentrate; centre; center
Context example:
Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies
Hypernyms (to "center" is one way to...):
cerebrate; cogitate; think (use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "center"):
absorb; engross; engulf; immerse; plunge; soak up; steep (engross (oneself) fully)
recall (cause one's (or someone else's) thoughts or attention to return from a reverie or digression)
think (focus one's attention on a certain state)
zoom in (examine closely; focus one's attention on)
hear; listen; take heed (listen and pay attention)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s on something
Meaning:
Move into the center
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
centre; center
Context example:
That vase in the picture is not centered
Hypernyms (to "center" is one way to...):
displace; move (cause to move, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Also:
center on (center upon)
