| 释义 |
▪ I. centre, center, n. and a.|ˈsɛntə(r)|
Forms: 4–5 sentre, 6 centur, (centure, centrie, centry), 6– center, 4– centre.
[a. F. centre (It., Sp. centro), ad. L. centr-um: see centrum below.
The prevalent spelling from 16th to 18th c. was center, in Shakespeare, Milton, Boyle, Pope, Addison, etc.; so the early dictionaries, Cotgr. (‘centre, F., a center’), Cockeram, Phillips, Kersey, and all the thirty editions of Bailey 1721–1802; but the technical volume of Bailey (Vol. II.) 1727–31 and the folio 1730–36, have centre; ‘an interleaved copy of the folio of 1730 was the foundation of Johnson's Dictionary’, which followed it in spelling centre; this has been generally adopted in Great Britain, while center is the prevalent spelling in the United States.]
I. The centre of a circle, of revolution, of centripetal attraction; and connected uses.
1. a. The point round which a circle is described; the middle point of a circle or sphere, equally distant from all points on the circumference.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. v. 132 Þe sterres of arctour ytourned neye to þe souereyne centre or point. c1391― Astrol. i. §4. c 1400 Mandeville xvii. 185 Aboute the poynt of the gret Compas, that is clept the Centre..Alle the Lynes meeten at the Centre. 1413Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle i. iii. (1483) 4 The Centre of the erthe was wonder derck. 1570Billingsley Euclid xi. xiv. 316 The centre of a Sphere is that poynt which is also the centre of the semicircle. 1591Morley Introd. Mus. 18 His signe is a whole cirkle with a prick or point in the center or middle, thus ☉. 1613R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Centre, middest of any round thing or circle. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvi. 375 The center of the Earth is the place of Rest. 1683Salmon Doron Med. i. 91 From the Center to the Circumference. 1774M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 23 The Lines..will intersect each other in..the Center of the Circle. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art I. 15 They are all drawn towards the center of the earth. 1879Lockyer Elem. Astron. vii. xli. 239 A circle is a figure bounded by a curved line, all the points in which are the same distance from a point within the circle called the centre.
b. fig.
1600Shakes. Sonn. cxlvi, Poore soule the center of my sinfull earth. a1631Donne Poems (1650) 7 This bed thy center is, these wals thy spheare. 1836Emerson Nature v. Wks. (Bohn) II. 157 The moral law lies at the centre of nature, and radiates to the circumference.
2. ellipt.
a. The centre of the earth.
138.Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 356 As þe sentre is lowest of alle þingis. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 159, I will finde Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeede Within the Center. 1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. iv. iii, I will search the Center but Ile find out the murderer. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xvi, With the feeling of an English freeholder, that all betwixt sky and centre was my own.
b. The earth itself, as the supposed centre of the universe.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 85 The Heauens themselues, the Planets, and this Center, Obserue degree, priority, and place. 1667Milton P.L. i. 74 As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
†3.
a. The prick or dot in the middle of a circle; the hole pricked by the stationary point of a pair of compasses. [cf. Gr. κέντρον.] Obs.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §18 The centre þat standith a-Middes the narwest cercle is cleped the senyth. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Def., When a pricke standeth in the middell of a circle (as no circle can be made by compasse without it) then is it called a centre. ― Cast. Knowl. (1556) 10 Although the earthe in it selfe haue a greate and notable quantity, yet in comparison to the firmament, it is to bee esteemed but as a centre or little pricke.
†b. Astrol. The sharp point or extremity of the metal tongue representing a star in the ‘rete’ of an astrolabe. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Frankl. T. 549 Ne hise rootes ne hise othere geeris As been his centris and hise Argumentz. c1391― Astrol. i. §21 Of whiche sterres the smale poynt is cleped the Centre. Ibid. ii. §19 Set the Sentre of the sterre vp-on the est Orisonte.
4. The point, pivot, axis, or line round which a body turns or revolves; the fixed or unmoving centre of rotation or revolution.
c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 14 Of his corage as any Centre stable. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 534 As a rock Of adamant, and as a centre, firm. 1677Moxon Mech. Exer. (1703) 177 The Pole may move upon that Nail, or Pin, as on a Center. 1717S. Clarke Leibnitz's 3rd Paper §17 If God would cause a Body to move free in the æther round about a certain fixed Centre. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mech. 777 Gudgeon, the centres or pivots of a water-wheel. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) III. v. v. 197 Not even an Anarchy but must have a centre to revolve round.
5. A particular form of bearing adjustable in the direction of its length and having a conical point entering into a corresponding depression in the end of the revolving object which it supports. In the lathe, long works are supported either at one or both ends upon ‘centres’.
[1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. No. x. 180 Upon the points of this Screw [i.e. the ‘centre’] and Pike the centers of the Work are pitcht. ]1797Trans. Soc. Arts XV. 273 The treadle moveable at the end of the platform..between two centers. 1879Holtzapffel Turning iv. 47 The crank [shaft] has been made to run in bearings, on centers. Ibid. iv. 91 The distance at which the axis of the lathe mandrel stands above the surface of the bed or bearers..called the height of center is used as the term to designate the dimensions of all lathes. Ibid. iv. 99 The five-inch centre lathe.
6. fig.
a. The point round which things group themselves or revolve, or that forms a nucleus or point of concentration for its surroundings. spec. (orig. U.S.) a place or a collection of buildings forming a central point in a town, district, etc., or the main area for a particular activity, interest, or the like; freq. with defining word, as city centre, civic centre, shopping centre, training centre (see city, civic a., etc.).
1685Prideaux Lett. (1875) 146 We live here remote from y⊇ center of affairs. 1712Steele Spect. No. 474 §1 The Center of Business and Pleasure. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 492 The centre of all the powers of the kingdom. 1843J. Hayward Gaz. U.S. 48 Buxton Centre. Ibid. 49 Cumberland Centre. 1855E. A. Charlton New Hampshire 295 At Meredith Centre are a meeting house..and three stores. 1877Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. i. 1 The great centres of old Italian life, Rome and Venice and Florence. 1883Gilmour Mongols xxxii. 366 The officers at the nearest military centres. 1896Punch LXI. 143 But here we are at Market Street... This is the spot our parsons call ‘The city's pulsing centre’. 1898E. Howard To-morrow vii. 75 The Arcade is..designed to be..the great shopping centre of the town. 1928[see training vbl. n. 5]. 1959Cambridge Rev. 9 May 493/1 The planners of Plymouth have..built a ‘centre’ which is tolerable only to a man in a hot tin box who has already become a part of the box. 1961Deb. Senate Canada 25 Sept. 1170/2, I am delighted to know that the Prime Minister is interested in having a centre in Ottawa for the performing arts. 1970Sunday Times 19 Apr. 27/5 The new arts centre would operate all year round with summer schools and special courses.
b. A point towards which things tend, move, or are attracted.
[1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. ii. 110 The strong base and building of my loue Is as the very Center of the earth, Drawing all things to it.] 1626Donne Serm. iv. 31 A center of Reverence..to which all reverence flowed. 1653Walton Angler ii. 63 Viewing the Silver streams glide silently towards their center, the tempestuous Sea. 1827Pollok Course T. v, Centre to which all being gravitates. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxiv, The centre of a world's desire.
c. A point from which things, influences, etc. emanate, proceed, or originate. Esp. in biology, etc. (see also 7).
1738Glover Leonidas vi. 250 The center of corruption. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 195 The light..proceeds in right lines or rays from the luminous body as a center. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. xii. (1885) 322 The question of single or multiple centres of creation. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 10 Diffused from a single geographical centre. 1872W. Aitken Sci. & Pr. Med. (ed. 6) II. 60 All new cells proceed from ‘centres of nutrition’, from other cells, or from the nuclei of them. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. ix. 188 Sick lives are centres of improving and refining influence.
7. a. Short for nerve-centre.
1847Carpenter Zool. §998 A number of ganglia or distinct centres of nervous action. From these diverging filaments are sent off, which are distributed to the various organs. 1869Huxley Phys. xi. 297 The grey matter of the upper part of the cord is..a vaso-motor centre for the head and face. 1881Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v. Centre, visual, Destruction of this centre on one side causes complete, but temporary, blindness of the opposite eye.
b. Short for centre of ossification (see 16).
1876Quain Anat. (ed. 8) I. 19 The lateral centres [for each vertebra] appear about the 7th week.
8. The name given to a leader of the Fenian organization, the chief being called head-centre.
1865Ann. Reg. 178 In the language of the party he was termed the ‘Head Centre’ of the Fenians in Ireland.
9. a. The part of a target between the ‘bull's-eye’ and the ‘outer’. b. ellipt. The hitting of this.
1887Whitaker's Almanack 540 In this case a bull's-eye counts four points, a centre three, and an outer two.
II. Of other things, the middle point.
10. Geom. The point at equal distances from the extremities of a line, of any regular surface or solid, or at a mean distance from all points in the periphery of an irregular surface or body (centre of magnitude); the central or middle point.
So the centre of a regular polygon, quadrilateral figure, triangle, cube, cylinder, etc. centre of a conic section: the point which bisects any diameter, or in which all diameters intersect each other; the centre of an ellipse or hyperbola, is the point midway between the two foci; that of a parabola is at infinity; centre of a higher curve, the point in which two diameters meet; centre of a dial, the part in which the gnomon intersects the plane of the dial.
1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 262 Centre or center, a point equally remote from the extremes of a line, plane, or solid; or a middle point dividing them so that some certain effects are equal on all sides of it. 1840Lardner Geom. 91 Lines drawn from the centre to the angles of the polygon.
11. a. gen. The middle point or part, the middle or midst of anything.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. ii. 6 The Market-Place, The middle Centure of this cursed Towne. c1645Howell Lett. vi. 86 Though they dwelt in the center of Spain not far from Toledo. 1706Addison Rosamond i. vi, Full in the center of the grove. 1776Withering Bot. Arrangem. (1796) I. 205 Florets all fertile, those of the center smaller. 1781Cowper Verses A. Selkirk 3 From the centre all round to the sea. 1816Scott Antiq. vii, Near the centre of a deep but narrow bay. 1878Morley Carlyle 175 The puniness of man in the centre of a cruel and frowning universe. 1880Scribner's Mag. June 221 The centers of the great gummy logs.
b. fig. (or of things not material).
1628T. Spencer Logick 169 Predication is the very Center, and life of Logicke. 1683Tryon Way to Health 317 If the Disorder happen near the Center of Life. 1835Browning Paracelsus Wks. I. 71 There is an inmost centre in us all, Where truth abides in fulness. 1846Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. Introd. 27 Those dismal scenes of faction which convulsed the little commonwealths to their centre.
c. centre of a bastion: ‘a point in the middle of the gorge of the bastion, from whence the capital line commences, and which is generally at the inner polygon of the figure’ (C. James).
d. In various games, a player on each side whose position is the middle of a line or field of players; esp. in rugby football = centre-threequarter; in other games, the player in the middle of the field.
1866Spirit of Times (N.Y.) 23 June 262/3 Edwards, as centre, is decidedly the best fielder in the nine. 1868Chambers's Encycl. X. 597/1 La Crosse... In the arrangement of the men on each side..centre is in the centre of the field. 1892Young England Sept. 442/1 The big ‘centre’, taking in the situation at a glance, slips round. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 411/2 [Rugby football.] Three Three-quarters.—The Centre—A centre is the correlative of the half-back. Ibid., The centre will, of course, be on the look out for a drop at goal. 1922Daily Mail 8 Dec. 12 M.A. Ap-Rhys Price, Marlborough's best centre, was unable to play.
e. Of chocolates and other sweets: the central portion which is enclosed in chocolate or other covering.
1877[see pan-drop]. 1929Sears, Roebuck Catal., Spring & Summer 1929 469 Extra fine..filled and hard candies. A tempting assortment with fruit and nut centers. 1935Discovery Nov. 322/1 The centres [of the chocolates] are passed by an automatic feeding attachment through a curtain of temperature-controlled chocolate. 1959Economist 13 June 1015/2 A hard covered chocolate with a soft centre.
f. Cricket. A guard (guard n. 3 b) covering the middle stump.
1887Cricket 24 Nov. 460/1 Miss Rogers..fell when taking ‘centre’. 1923E. W. Hornung Old Offenders 250 He waited by the umpire while Chrystal took centre.
g. Assoc. Football and Hockey. A kick or pass from either of the wings towards the centre of the pitch. Cf. centre v. 4 b.
1900Westm. Gaz. 23 Apr. 8/3 The forwards..were never where they should have been when centres..were put across. 1927Daily Express 20 Apr. 13/2 Hill met with his head a glorious centre by Williams. 1967J. Potter Foul Play vi. 79 Bob enjoyed two dramatic races down the right wing, but they came to nothing when Julian wasn't fast enough to pick up the centres.
h. the Centre, the remote interior of Australia, Central Australia. See also Red Centre.
1912Spencer & Gillen Across Austral. I. i. 5 Central Australia and the Northern Territory..consists of four distinct parts... Of these four areas the second and the third, which together occupy a large part of the Centre, may be known as the Australian Steppe lands. 1934A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Austral. ix. 71 For years he had spent his time drifting about ‘the Centre’, which he probably knew as well as any man living. 1954B. Miles Stars my Blanket xxiii. 198, I asked him if he had much trouble with scrub bulls as they do in The Centre.
12. The point or position of equilibrium of a body. Also fig. See also centre of gravity, of inertia in 16.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §2 Hit [the ring] disturbeth nat the instrument to hangen aftur his rihte centre. 1668Temple in Four C. Eng. Lett. 127 Things drawn out of their center are not to be moved without much force, or skill, or time; but, to make their return to their center again, there is required but little of either. 1704Swift Batt. Bks. (1711) 230 By his own unhappy Weight and Tendency towards his Center. 1860Emerson Cond. Life Wks. (Bohn) II. 384 If the man is off his centre, the eyes show it.
13. Archit. A temporary framework supporting any superstructure; now spec. the wooden support and ‘mould’ upon which an arch or dome is supported while building.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 102 In those Foundations which I build vpon, The Centre is not bigge enough to beare A Schoole-Boyes Top. 1630Prynne Anti-Armin. 113 This..is the onely center vpon which the whole fabricke is erected. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 338 Centres, the frame of timber-work for supporting arches during their erection. 1861Smiles Engineers II. 182 The centres spanning the..width of the arch were composed of eight ribs.
14. Mil.
a. The main body of troops occupying the space between the two wings.
b. ‘The division of a fleet between the van and the rear of the line of battle, and between the weather and lee divisions in the order of sailing’ (Adm. Smyth).
1598Barret Theor. Warres Gloss. 250 Centre, a French word, is the middle of a battell, or other things. 1710Steele Tatler No. 210 ⁋8 One [body] to be commanded by himself in the Center. 1769Robertson Chas. V, III. xii. 386 Brought some pieces of cannon to bear upon their center. 1871Smiles Charac. i. (1876) 17 At the combat of Vera, when the Spanish centre was broken.
c. The middle man of any rank of soldiers, or an imaginary point in the middle of any body of soldiers. ‘Centre of a battalion on parade: the middle, where an interval is left for the colours; of an encampment, it is the main street; and on a march, is an interval for the baggage; when it is so placed’ (C. James).
1672Venn Mil. & Mar. Discipline i. 127 Secondly, wheelings on the midst (or Center). I shall not use the word Center, for it is more proper to a circular body than to a square. 1796Instr. Cavalry (1813) 226 The squadron will receive the word Center Dress. 1832Prop. Reg. Instr. Cavalry ii. 33 Their Centres and Lefts move up.
15. Politics. In the French Chamber (which is arranged in the form of an amphitheatre), the deputies of moderate opinions who occupy the central benches in front of the president, between the extreme parties who sit to the right and left. right centre, left centre: divisions of this party inclining towards the opinions of the right and left respectively, and sitting adjacent to them. Also transferred to the political opinions so indicated; and to the politics of other countries. In Germany the Centre is the Catholic or Ultramontane party.
(This use originated in the French National Assembly of 1789, in which the nobles as a body took the position of honour on the President's right, and the Third Estate sat on his left. The significance of these positions, which was at first merely ceremonial, soon became political.)
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. vi. ii, Answered, from Right side, from Centre and Left, by inextinguishable laughter. 1874Times Summ. of Year, The Left Centre has withdrawn in some degree from its alliance with the Left, and overtures are from day to day on both sides tendered and rejected by the two divisions which form the Centre. Ibid. The party which is known in [the German] Parliament as the Catholic Centre. 1884B. M. Gardiner Fr. Rev. iii. 52. 1907 [see history n. 4 c]. 1962Listener 3 May 774/2 Those socialists and others orientated left (or right) of centre who are automatically biased against the United States. 1962Ibid. 19 July 87/2 All three parties in Bonn are now parties of the centre, and there is virtually no opposition.
III. 16. Phrases.
centre of attack (Mil.): ‘when a considerable front is taken before a besieged place, and the lines of attack are carried upon three capitals, the capital in the middle, which usually leads to the half-moon, is styled the center of attack’ (C. James).
centre of attraction (Physics): the point to which bodies tend by gravity, or by the action of centripetal force; (fig.) the object or point which attracts attention, interest, or curiosity.
centre of buoyancy, centre of cavity, centre of displacement, centre of immersion: the mean centre of that part of a ship or floating body, which is immersed in the water.
centre of conversion: the point in a body about which it turns or tends to turn when force is applied at a given point.
centre of curvature: see curvature.
centre of excellence: an institution acknowledged for the outstanding quality of its research or other work.
centre of friction: that point in the base of a body on which it revolves when put in rapid rotation, e.g. the point of the peg of a top.
centre of gravity orig. = centre of attraction; afterwards, and still popularly (see quot. 1879) = centre of mass: in the case of a single body or a system of bodies rigidly connected, the point about which all the parts exactly balance each other, and which being supported, the body or system will remain at rest in any position; also fig., the point or object of greatest importance or interest.
centre of gyration: the point at which if the whole mass of a revolving body were collected, the rotatory motion would remain the same.
centre of inertia: = centre of gravity or mass.
centre of magnitude: = sense 10.
centre of mass: that point in relation to a body or system of bodies so situated that any plane whatever that passes through it divides the body or system into two parts of which the masses or weights are exactly equal.
centre of motion: the point which remains at rest while all the other parts move round it.
centre of oscillation: the point of a body suspended by an axis at which, if all the matter were concentrated, the oscillations would be performed in the time actually taken.
centre of ossification: the point (or points) in the cartilage or fibrous membrane of an immature bone in which the bone salts are first deposited, and from which they extend until the whole bone is ossified.
centre of percussion: in a moving body, that point where the percussion or stroke is greatest, in which the whole percutient force of the body is supposed to be collected.
centre of pressure: the point at which the whole amount of pressure may be applied with the same effect as when distributed.
1727–51Chambers Cycl., Center of Gravitation or *Attraction.
1796Hutton Math. Dict., Centre of *Conversion, a term first used by M. Parent.
1968J. M. Ziman Public Knowledge v. 92 The enormous expansion of graduate studies and scientific research..has been too rapid for this spirit to percolate from the few centres of *excellence to all the institutions now engaged in the training of scientists. 1971R. Cockburn in Minutes of Evidence Sel. Comm. Sci. & Technol. 1/2 in Parl. Papers 1970–71 XLVIII. 71 Originally, I think, there was the concept that the National Computing Centre might provide a kind of centre of excellence. 1976Physics Bull. Feb. 57/2 Designated ‘centres of excellence’ are in general undesirable and impracticable. 1985British Med. Jrnl. 2 Nov. 1274/2 To be awarded the accolade ‘centre of excellence’ a hospital must offer much more than a bright array of scanners.
1659J. Leak Water-wks. 4 They fall towards their centre of *gravity in the Water. 1704J. Harris Lex Techn. s.v. Earth, The Earth doth not describe an Orbit round the Sun properly by her own Centre, but by the Common Centre of Gravity of the Earth and the Moon. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art I. 449 The centre of gravity is that point in which the weight of a body may be supposed to be collected. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 150 The casting of this pebble from my hand alters the centre-of-gravity of the Universe. 1903‘Vigilans sed Aequus’ German Ambitions 48 Loss of millions of Germans..has moved the world's centre of gravity in a sense unfavourable to them [sc. the German people]. 1937Discovery Sept. 266/2 The wage-earner is now the centre of political gravity. 1963Higher Educ. (Cmnd. 2154) x. §384 The centre of gravity should be in science and technology.
1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 269 The distance of the centre of *gyration, from the point of suspension, is a mean proportional between those of gravity and oscillation. 1829Nat. Philos. I. Hydraulics iii. 28 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.), The point of percussion, or of greatest effect, (which, in revolving bodies, is called the centre of gyration).
1879Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §230 The Centre of *Inertia or Mass is thus a perfectly definite point in every body, or group of bodies. The term Centre of Gravity is often very inconveniently used for it.
1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 267 Centre of *magnitude is..the same as the centre of gravity in homogeneal bodies, as in a cylinder or any other prism.
1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v., If the weights P and Q revolve about the point N, so that when P descends, Q ascends, N is said to be the Center of *Motion.
Ibid. He found, in this case, the distance of the centre of *oscillation, from the axis in a circle, to be 3/4 of the diameter. 1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 267 Centre of oscillation..in a compound pendulum, its distance from the point of suspension is equal to the length of a simple pendulum whose oscillations are isochronal with those of the compound ones.
1867J. Marshall Physiol. II. 651 The cranial bones begin by one or more flat radiating centres of *ossification. 1869Huxley Physiol. xii. 321 A long bone has usually, at fewest, three centres of ossification.
1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v., The center of *percussion is the same with the center of gravity, if all the parts of the percutient body be carried with a parallel motion. 1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 269 When the percutient body revolves about a fixed point, the centre of percussion is the same with the centre of oscillation.
Ibid. The centre of *pressure of a fluid against a plane, is that point against which a force being applied equal and contrary to the whole pressure, it will just sustain it.
IV. attrib. and in comb.
17. attrib. or quasi-adj. Of or pertaining to the centre, central. Hence centremost.
1791Bentham Panopt. i. Postcr. 99 The center one of the 5 uppermost Cells. 1796Instr. & Regul. Cavalry (1813) 233 Trumpeters and music are behind the center interval. 1829I. Taylor Enthus. ix. 219 The centre illusion of the system. 1860J. Kennedy Horse Shoe R. lvii. 586 The centre division of the assailing army. 1879R. K. Douglas Confucianism iv. 92 The centre figures of his philosophy.
18. Obvious combinations: as centre-arbor, centre-line, centre-pin, centre-pinion, centre-point, centre-truth, etc. Also centre-ward, centre-wise advs.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 266 The *centre arbor..turns once in an hour.
1804Med. Jrnl. XII. 202 The distance between the *centre-pin and blade. 1807–26S. Cooper First Lines Surg. 303 In order to fix the centre-pin of the trephine.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 266 The teeth round the barrel drive the *centre-pinion.
1648Bp. Hall Sel. Th. §22 What a mere *centrepoint the earth is in comparison of the vast circumference of heaven. 1866Liddon Bampton Lect. v. (1875) 253 Christ is the centre-point of the history and hopes of man.
1858Sears Athan. ii. xi. 245 The *centre-truth in his system of doctrines.
1843Carlyle Past & Pr. i. ii, At all moments it is moving *centreward.
1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xvii. (1856) 126 It contracts itself *centrewise, and rounds itself endwise.
19. Special combs.: centre-bully, a bully taken in the middle of the field at the start or re-start of play (see bully n.2 2); centre-chisel, a pointed cold-chisel; centre-chuck, a kind of chuck for a lathe; centre-drill, ‘a small drill used for making a short hole in the ends of a shaft about to be turned, for the entrance of the lathe-centres’ (Weale); centre field Baseball, the part of the outfield beyond second base and between right field and left field; also, a fielder in this position; centre-fire = central fire (see central 4); also attrib., as in centre-fire cartridge; † centre-fish, a mollusc allied to the limpet; centrefold chiefly U.S., the centre spread of a newspaper or magazine, esp. one depicting a nude model; hence, one whose picture appears on a centrefold; centre-forward, (a) a player in association football, hockey, and other games, who plays from a central position in the forward line; (b) the position occupied by that player; centre-half, centre half-back, (a) a player who plays from a central position among the half-backs; (b) the position of that player; centre-lathe, a turning-lathe in which the work is supported or held by centres (sense 5); centre light, a lamp suspended from the centre of a ceiling; centre-line, any line passing through a centre; spec., in drawing, a line from which measurements are made, and in ship-building, a line passing lengthways through the hull and dividing it into two sections; in various games, a line of centres (sense 11 d); centre-piece, (a) a piece in the centre of anything; spec. an ornamental piece of plate or glass for the centre of a table, etc., an épergne; (b) fig. the most conspicuous or important item in a collection, exhibition, etc.; centre-plate, (a) each of the metal plates composing the bearing for a railway carriage or engine on the centre of the truck; (b) each of the metal plates used to hold a dowelled pattern while it is being turned in the lathe; (c) a metal centre-board; centre-punch, a punch with a conical point for marking the centre of work to be turned in the lathe, or the centre of a hole to be drilled; centre-rail, a third or middle rail, sometimes used on railway lines, in connexion with a cogged wheel or other device on the engine, for the ascent or descent of steep inclines; also attrib.; centre-saw, a kind of circular saw which cuts round timber in sections meeting in the centre, for spokes, pick-handles, etc.; centre-second(s, applied to a seconds hand on a clock or watch mounted on the centre arbor, and completing its revolution in one minute; also to a clock, etc. having such a seconds hand; centre section Aeronaut. (see quot. 1950); centre-split (see quot.); centre spread, printed matter occupying the two facing middle pages of a newspaper, periodical, etc.; centre-square, an instrument for finding the centre and radius of a circle; centre-table, a table intended for the centre of a room, formerly often used for the display of books, albums, etc.; centre-valve, in gas-works, a rotating valve by which the gas is distributed to several sets of purifiers; centre-velic, see velic; centre-wheel, the third wheel of a watch in some kinds of movements; centre-zero a., designating a meter which has zero at the centre of the scale and can therefore indicate both positive and negative values of the quantity registered.
1910Westm. Gaz. 1 Mar. 16/2 From the *centre-bully Cambridge again pressed.
1863Smiles Indust. Biog. 247 His self-adjusting double driving *centre-chuck, for which the Society of Arts awarded him their silver medal in 1828.
1857Spirit of Times 29 Aug. 404/3 Enterprise Club. Maxfield, catcher;..England, third base; Bleecker, *centre field. 1865Sunday Mercury (Philadelphia) 3 Sept. 3/5 Dick McBride struck a ball over to centre field. 1948Miami (Oklahoma) Daily News-Rec. 4 July 4/4 For sensational catches in centerfield you can't beat him. 1985N.Y. Times 10 Aug. 45/4 Baylor kept the hit parade going, tagging one of Stanley's offerings into centerfield.
1668Wilkins Real Char. ii. v. §2. 130 Univalvs; having but one Shell..being unmoved..1 Limpet, *Center fish.
1966McCall's Mag. Oct. 195/1 The reader is treated to an illustrated biography of the young..maiden, replete with details of her wholesome family life..before stumbling on her stretched over the *center fold in full bloom and triple exposure. 1970Washington Post 30 Sept. b2/1, I don't mind telling you, every time I pick up a copy of Playboy{ddd}I'm afraid to turn to the centerfold! 1986‘A. Burgess’ Homage to QWERTYUIOP p. xii, The rest of the household knows you are at work, as a blacksmith is, and does not suspect you of covertly devouring a Playboy centrefold.
1891Peel City Guardian IX. 7/3 The teams were as follows:..*centre forward [etc.]. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 421/1 The centre-forward is in the middle of the other four; the two on each side of him form the wings.
1891Peel City Guardian IX. 2/4 Our friend John at *centre-half. 1908Westm. Gaz. 30 Nov. 14/4 If he were to stick to centre-half always. 1920E. H. Green Hockey iv. 38 More work falls on the centre half than to the other two put together.
1890C. W. Alcock Football vii. 46 An inside man can give him a pass when he is clear from the *centre half-back. 1969Melbourne Truth 12 July 23/2, I prefer Peter Steward at centre half-back.
1819Rees Cycl. s.v. Turning, Lathes are..called *centre lathes where the work is supported at both ends. 1879Holtzapffel Turning iv. 99.
1878Lady C. Schreiber Jrnl. (1911) II. 128 Excellent *centre light, or chandelier, of hammered iron. 1966G. Greene Comedians i. iii. 94, I found Marcel hanging from his own belt from the centre light.
1777Monthly Review LV. 306 Section through the *center line of the Register Office, from North to South. 1807Monthly Mag. 1 Feb. 66/1 Placed in the centre line of the vessel. Ibid., Its relative distance from the centre line of the vessel's progress. 1887D. A. Low Machine Draw. 2 After drawing the centre line of any part the dimensions of that part must be marked off from the centre line. 1920E. H. Green Hockey i. 24 Centre Line.—A line across the centre of the ground with a small circle in the centre from which the initial bully takes place. 1967Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 90/2 A companion ladder at the centreline leads to the main deck foyer. 1969Australian 24 May 39/3 There is not likely to be a great deal in the centreline duels.
1803Deb. Congress 10 Jan. (1851) 345 An appropriate and characteristic equestrian statue..as a beautiful *centre piece for the entire plan. 1836Disraeli H. Temple vi. vi. (Hoppe) A bouquet which might have served for the centre-piece of a dinner table. 1854Illust. Lond. News 18 Mar. 259/1 The..testimonial is a silver centre-piece consisting of a column encircled by two gracefully-formed figures representing Peace, etc. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 100 With screws..and a silver centre-piece. 1937Discovery Dec. 361/2 The centre-piece of the exhibition is C. T. R. Wilson's original expansion-chamber apparatus. 1965Economist 16 Jan. 214/2 President Johnson's proposals on education..are the centrepiece of his efforts to raise the quality of American life.
1875M. N. Forney Catech. Locomotive xii. 316 The weight of the front end of the engine rests on a cast iron *centre-place.
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 185/1 *Center-plate. 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 194/2 The movable center-plate will always let you know when you get on a shoal.
1879Holtzapffel Turning iv. 192 A steel *center punch is driven into the flat end.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., Another form of *center-rail railway.
Ibid. s.v., The largest *centre-second clock..is the turret-clock for the Bombay Harbour Board [with] a dial 8½ feet in diameter. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 49 [A] Centre Seconds..[is] a long seconds hand moving from the centre of a watch dial.
1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 9 The sloping half-strut of his top *centre section. 1921Flight XIII. 147/1 The wings are of wood construction, fabric covered, and are attached, high up on the fuselage, to a ‘centre section’ which forms the roof of the cabin. 1950Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 36 Centre section, the portion of the fuselage or hull forming a continuous structure with the main planes. In a biplane or a parasol monoplane, the central structure to which the main planes are connected.
1886Daily News 15 Oct. 5/6 They are made of ‘*centre splits’. Good, honest hides..are skilfully split into three skins, and the centre one, having no grain, and being of a soft, flimsy substance, is nevertheless capable of being made to assume the guise of serviceable leather.
1940G. Butler Kiss Blood xi. 201, I turned the paper open at the *centre spread, where they put the next most important news.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. III. 2294/1 The *center-square, for finding the center of a circle. 1886Centre square [see radius n. 5].
1833Knickerbocker I. 158 The whole family are collected around the *centre table. c1845C. Brontë Professor (1857) I. iv. 59 He removed from the centre-table to the side-board a few pamphlets. 1868Holme Lee B. Godfrey xxxvi. 195 He..remained standing by the centre-table. 1902W. James Var. Relig. Exper. xix. 460 A ‘home’ upon a veldt or prairie with one sitting-room and a Bible on its centre-table. 1929Star 21 Aug. 13/3 Polished walnut centre table, overmantel to match.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 266 The *centre wheel drives the third wheel pinion.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 148/2 *Centre-zero instrument. 1963B. Fozard Instrumentation Nucl. Reactors viii. 90 The indication is provided by a centre-zero moving coil instrument.
Add:[I.] [6.] d. Usu. with capital initial. The place from which an espionage or terrorist network is co-ordinated, esp. (now Hist.) the headquarters of the Soviet Secret Service (usu. Moscow Centre); the controlling organization or group.
1935Internat. Press Correspondence 26 Jan. 107/1 The facts show that the so-called ‘Moscow Centre’ which consisted of the former leaders of the Zinoviev Anti-Soviet Group, knew of the terroristic sentiments of the members of this group. 1937Southern Rev. (Baton Rouge) III. 60 Trotsky is alleged to have directed the organization in 1933 of a united Trotskyite-Zinovievite center in Leningrad, the agents of which encompassed the assassination of Kirov. 1955Rep. R. Comm. Espionage (Australia) vii. 73 The Moscow Centre recruited for its work in Australia officials of other Departments who were being posted to the Embassy here by the Soviet Foreign Office. 1963‘J. le Carré’ Spy who came in from Cold xv. 140 She read the letter again. It was on Centre's writing paper, with the thick red print at the top and it began ‘Dear Comrade’. 1974― Tinker, Tailor xxiii. 193 Moscow Centre was in pieces... There was a crop of defections among Centre officers. 1982J. Gardner Quiet Dogs (1984) ii. 15 Even with this new building, Moscow Centre—as it is known..within Intelligence communities the world over—is now the Centre in name only. 1986G. Markstein Soul Hunters lxi. 234 Leave nothing to chance. He was..only implementing the Centre's philosophy.
▸ centre back n. orig. Brit. (in Football and Hockey) a player occupying a central defensive position; the position occupied by such a player.
1909Times 18 Oct. (Sporting Intelligence section) 16/4 G. F. Earle, *centre back. 1916H. G. Wells Mr. Britling sees it Through i. iii. 83 Mr. Raeburn..was considered to have great natural abilities for hockey but little experience... Mrs. Britling was the centre back. 1973P. Arnold & C. Davis Hamlyn Bk. World Soccer 192/1 What are usually called centre halves these days could more properly be described as centre backs. 1991Hartford (Conneticut) Courant (Nexis) 11 Sept. (Sports section) f6 She can play anything from forward to center back. 2000Times 7 Aug. (Sport Monday section) 8/2 Your team must be in a 4–4–2 formation, with one goalkeeper; two full-backs; two centre-backs; four midfielders; two forwards.
▪ II. centre, center, v.|ˈsɛntə(r)|
[f. centre n. or a. F. centre-r. In 17th and 18th c. often spelt center, still prevalent in U.S. Cf. centring.]
I. intr.
†1.
a. To rest as on a fixed centre or pivot; to repose. Obs. (as a distinct sense, though it often colours 2).
1622Bacon Cæsar Wks. (Bohn) 503 He..admitted none to his intimacies, but such whose whole expectations centered upon him. 1664Decay Chr. Piety (J.) Where there is no visible truth wherein to centre. 1669Bunyan Holy Citie 97 Here centreth Luke the Evangelist, here centreth Jude. 1708Penn in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 268 He assures me he intends to centre with us, and end his days in that country. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 144 We have a Balance..to the value of 1,750,000l. which centers and remains among us.
†b. To unite, agree. Obs.
1622–62Heylin Cosmogr. To Rdr., I wondred how they could all center upon the same Proposal. 1657Reeve God's Plea 5 Let us both center together in this qualification.
2. a. To find or have their (or its) centre; to be concentrated as at a centre; ‘to be collected to a point’ (J.), to gather or collect as round a centre; to be placed as at a centre; to move or turn round as a centre. Often with a mixture of notions, including that of sense 1.
1691–8Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 186 He that makes himself his End, that Centers and Terminates in himself. 1736Butler Anal. ii. vii. 365 Whom all the prophecies referred to, and in whom they should center. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 424 That bliss which only centres in the mind. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 208 In his person also centered the right of the Saxon monarchs. 1777Robertson Hist. Amer. (1778) II. vii. 272 The supreme authority centered at last in a single person. 1781Cowper Convers. 134 His sole opinion..Centering at last in having none at all. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 173 The trade, wealth and power of America, may, at some future period, depend, and perhaps centre upon the Missisippi. 1818Cruise Digest VI. 550 If the whole property should center in one person. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 20 All three tubes afterwards centre in one. 1867Hales in Percy Folio I. 143 The rare adventure on which the tale centres. 1876Green Short Hist. v. §4 (1882) 246 The hopes of the peasants centred in the young sovereign.
b. to centre (or be centred) about, around or round: to have (something) as one's or its centre or focus; to move or revolve round (something) as a centre; to be concentrated on, to turn on (see turn v. 3); to be mainly concerned with.
1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 262 It is around the King..that the main storm of battle is made to centre. 1870Chambers's Jrnl. 12 Nov. 731/1 The only man she had ever loved—around whom centred her most precious memories. 1878Harper's Mag. 308/2 The real interest of the story centres about the lives of four personages. 1886Chambers's Jrnl. 17 July 449/2 The assistant's chief hardships centre round the abnormal length of his working-day. 1893H. B. Clarke Spanish Lit. 163 The plot invariably centres round the love intrigue of persons in the middle or upper classes of life. 1893Kipling Day's Work (1898) 7 The little cluster of huts where he and his gang lived centred round the tattered dwelling of a sea-priest. 1909Daily Chron. 27 July 4/6 Its most enduring traditions centre round the ancient cathedral. 1929Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Oct. 753/2 The group of gifted men and women who centred round Henry Adams. 1931A. L. Rowse Politics & Younger Generation 271 The foremost problems in European politics..will centre round the revision of the Treaty of Versailles.
†3. To converge (on) as a centre. Obs.
1789H. Walpole Remin. viii. 65 All those mortifications centering on a constitution evidently tending to dissolution.
II. trans.
4. a. To place or fix in the centre; to provide or mark with a centre. Also, to occupy, distinguish, or mark the centre of; fig. to be the central point of.
1610G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. (R.) Where the sun centres himself by right. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 228 In his hand He took the golden Compasses..One foot he center'd, and the other turn'd. 1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 260 There is the eternal ‘Kugelhupf’ (a genuinely Austrian coffee-cake) centring the table. 1887W. J. Knox-Little Broken Vow 9 A plot of smooth green grass..centred by a basin in which there is a continual plash of falling water. 1894Daily News 2 July 3/4 When the scarlet liveries of Royalty are seen centreing the procession across the bridge. 1898Ibid. 27 May 4/6 Centring the Hall was the dais. 1902C. N. & A. M. Williamson Lightning Conductor 95 This châteaux country of the Loire..centreing as it did the old court life of France.
b. In football and hockey, to kick or hit (a ball) towards the centre of the line of forwards. Also absol. Cf. centre n. 11 g.
1890C. W. Alcock Football vii. 47 When..the ball is centred..from the left wing. 1891Peel Chron. 14 Mar. 5/4 Radcliffe neatly centred. 1897Daily News 22 Feb. 8/6 The latter, as..the Cambridge back dashed at him, again centred the ball. 1904Daily Chron. 15 Feb. 8/4 Wright ran smartly down on the left and centred. 1920E. H. Green Hockey v. 50 Centering while travelling at top speed..is a very difficult stroke to perform with any degree of accuracy.
†5. To fix to, repose upon, as a fixed centre or pivot. Obs. (But often colouring 6.)
1623T. Ailesbury Serm. (1624) 2 Man..doth center his restlesse motions vpon nothing but the Almighties fruition. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, xxxv, Men cent'red to Selfe-Interest and lock't To their wild Causes. 1721Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. III. 205 Centering all our cares upon private interest.
6. To place or put as in a centre; to collect, bring, or direct, as to a centre; to concentrate in, on. To be centred in or on has often a shade of sense 5.
1702Pope Sapho 50 Once in her arms you center'd all your joy. 1776Goldsm. Haunch of Venison, While thus I debated, in reverie centred. 1794Godwin Cal. Williams 291 Each of these centered in himself a variety of occupations. 1844Thirlwall Greece VIII. lxii. 179 All his hopes were henceforth centred in Antigonus. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. I. xiii. 606 The process of centering the administration of justice in the hands of the itinerant justices. 1878Black Green Past. xxxvii. 295 As if her whole thoughts had been centred on the Falls.
7. In various technical uses: To place or fix in the (exact) centre; to find the centre of; to grind (a lens) so that the thickest part is in the centre.
1793Sir G. Shuckburgh in Phil. Trans. LXXXIII. 109 If this [the object glass] be not correctly centered..that is, if its axis be not concentric with the axis of the cell, in which it is fixed. 1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 289 Cassini the younger has a discourse expressly on the necessity of well centring the object glass of a large telescope. 1831Brewster Optics xli. 339 When the aperture was well centered. 1868Lockyer Elem. Astron. §518 It is of the last importance..that it should be correctly centred,—that is that the centre of movement should be also the centre of graduation. |