CENTERS
Noun
centers
plural of center
Verb
centers
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of center
Anagrams
• centres, scenter, tenrecs
Source: Wiktionary
CENTER
Cen"ter, n. Etym: [F. centre, fr. L. centrum, fr. round which a
circle is described, fr.
1. A point equally distant from the extremities of a line, figure, or
body, or from all parts of the circumference of a circle; the middle
point or place.
2. The middle or central portion of anything.
3. A principal or important point of concentration; the nucleus
around which things are gathered or to which they tend; an object of
attention, action, or force; as, a center of attaction.
4. The earth. [Obs.] Shak.
5. Those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who support
the existing government. They sit in the middle of the legislative
chamber, opposite the presiding officer, between the conservatives or
monarchists, who sit on the right of the speaker, and the radicals or
advanced republicans who occupy the seats on his left, See Right, and
Left.
6. (Arch.)
Definition: A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or
arch are supported in position util the work becomes self-supporting.
7. (Mech.)
(a) One of the two conical steel pins, in a lathe, etc., upon which
the work is held, and about which it revolves.
(b) A conical recess, or indentation, in the end of a shaft or other
work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn,
as in a lathe.
Note: In a lathe the live center is in the spindle of the head stock;
the dead center is on the tail stock. Planer centers are stocks
carrying centers, when the object to be planed must be turned on its
axis. Center of an army, the body or troops ossupying the place in
the line between the wings.
– Center of a curve or surface (Geom.) (a) A point such that every
line drawn through the point and terminated by the curve or surface
is bisected at the point. (b) The fixed point of reference in polar
coördinates. See Coördinates.
– Center of curvature of a curve (Geom.), the center of that circle
which has at any given point of the curve closer contact with the
curve than has any other circle whatever. See Circle.
– Center of a fleet, the division or column between the van and
rear, or between the weather division and the lee.
– Center of gravity (Mech.), that point of a body about which all
its parts can be balanced, or which being supported, the whole body
will remain at rest, though acted upon by gravity.
– Center of gyration (Mech.), that point in a rotating body at
which the whole mass might be concentrated (theoretically) without
altering the resistance of the intertia of the body to angular
acceleration or retardaton.
– Center of inertia (Mech.), the center of gravity of a body or
system of bodies.
– Center of motion, the point which remains at rest, while all the
other parts of a body move round it.
– Center of oscillation, the point at which, if the whole matter of
a suspended body were collected, the time of oscillation would be the
same as it is in the actual form and state of the body.
– Center of percussion, that point in a body moving about a fixed
axis at which it may strike an obstacle without communicating a shock
to the axis.
– Center of pressure (Hydros.), that point in a surface pressed by
a fluid, at which, if a force equal to the whole pressure and in the
same line be applied in a contrary direction, it will balance or
counteract the whole pressure of the fluid.
Cen"ter, Cen"tre v. i. [imp. & p. p. Centered or Centred (; p. pr. &
vb. n. Centering or Centring.]
1. To be placed in a center; to be central.
2. To be collected to a point; to be concentrated; to rest on, or
gather about, as a center.
Where there is no visible truth wherein to center, error is as wide
as men's fancies. Dr. H. More.
Our hopes must center in ourselves alone. Dryden.
Cen"ter , Cen"tre, v. t.
1. To place or fix in the center or on a central point. Milton.
2. To collect to a point; to concentrate.
Thy joys are centered all in me alome. Prior.
3. (Mech.)
Definition: To form a recess or indentation for the reception of a center.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition