Center  A The   To  The Point B Middle

cen·ter

I

 \\ˈsen-tər, ˈse-nər\\ noun1.
  a. the point around which a circle or sphere is described; broadly : a point that is related to a geometrical figure in such a way that for any point on the figure there is another point on the figure such that a straight line joining the two points is bisected by the original point — called also center of symmetry
  b. the center of the circle inscribed in a regular polygon
2.
  a. a point, area, person, or thing that is most important or pivotal in relation to an indicated activity, interest, or condition
      a railroad center
      the center of the controversy
  b. a source from which something originates
      a propaganda center
  c. a group of nerve cells having a common function
      respiratory center
  d. a region of concentrated population
      an urban center
  e. a facility providing a place for a particular activity or service
      a day-care center
3.
  a. the middle part (as of the forehead or a stage)
  b. often capitalized
    (1) a grouping of political figures holding moderate views especially between those of conservatives and liberals
    (2) the views of such politicians
    (3) the adherents of such views
4.
  a. a player occupying a middle position on a team: as
    (1) the football player in the middle of a line who passes the ball between his legs to a back to start a down
    (2) the usually tallest player on a basketball team who usually plays near the basket
  b. 

center field

5.
  a. either of two tapered rods which support work in a lathe or grinding machine and about or with which the work revolves
  b. a conical recess in the end of work (as a shaft) for receiving such a center
• cen·ter·less  \\-ləs\\ adjective

II

verb 
(cen·tered ; cen·ter·ing  \\ˈsen-t(ə-)riŋ, ˈse-nər-iŋ\\)transitive verb
1. to place or fix at or around a center or central area or position
    center the picture on the wall
2. to give a central focus or basis
    centers her hopes on her son
    the plot was centered on espionage
3. to adjust (as lenses) so that the axes coincide
4.
  a. to pass (a ball or puck) from either side toward the middle of the playing area
  b. to hand or pass (a football) backward between one's legs to a back to start a down
5. to play center on
    center a line in hockey
intransitive verb
: to have a specified center : 
Usage.
  The intransitive verb center is most commonly used with the prepositions in, on, at, and around. At appears to be favored in mathematical contexts; the others are found in a broad range of contexts. Center around, a standard idiom, has often been objected to as illogical. The logic on which the objections are based is irrelevant, since center around is an idiom and idioms have their own logic. Center on is currently more common in edited prose, and revolve around and similar verbs are available if you want to avoid center around.

center
  late 14c., from O.Fr. centre, from L. centrum "center," orig. fixed point of the two points of a compass, from Gk. kentron "sharp point, goad," from kentein "stitch," from PIE base *kent- "to prick" (cf. Breton kentr "a spur," O.H.G. hantag "sharp, pointed"). The verb is from 1620s. Spelling with -re popularized in Britain by Johnson's dictionary, though -er is older. Center of gravity is recorded from 1650s.

center
cen·ter (NAmE) = 

centre

cen·ter
I. \ˈsentə(r)\ noun
(-s)
Usage: see -er, often attributive
Etymology: Middle English centre, from Middle French, from Latin centrum, from Greek kentron sharp point, stationary point of a drawing compass, center of a circle, from kentein to prick, goad; akin to Old High German hantag pointed, Old Norse hannarr skillful, Gothic handugs wise, Latvian sīts hunting spear
1. 
 a. : the point around which a circle or sphere is described : the point equidistant from all points on a circumference; broadly : 

middle

 : the point at an average distance from the exterior angles, points, or lines of a figure or body
 b. archaic : the middle point of the earth
2. : a point around which things revolve; often : a focal point for attraction, concentration, or activity : a point, area, person, or thing that is most important or pivotal in relation to an indicated activity, interest, or condition
 < St. Thomas and his God placed man in the center of the universe and made the sun and stars for his uses — Henry Adams >
 a. : 

pivot

, 

axis

 : cardinal point
  < the center from which the spokes branch out >
 b. : a point, area, person, or thing upon which attention, feeling, or action converges : 

focus

  < the old school was the center of our lives somehow: dances, socials, Sunday services, political meetings — E.A.McCourt >
  < the … Abilene region … has been the center of considerable controversy — R.W.Murray >
 c. : a place, area, person, group, or concentration marked significantly or dominatingly by an indicated activity, pursuit, interest, or appeal
  < a railroad center >
  < a tobacco center >
  < a center for textile research >
  < the landing … is usually the center of much activity, because of the constant ferrying — American Guide Series: Rhode Island >
  < the Emperor Napoleon was the real center of French sympathy for the South — A.L.Churchill >
 d. : a source or point of origin for an influence, force, process, action, or effect : 

heart

 : a vital or stimulating factor
  < intensive propaganda from the center — Alex Comfort >
 e. : a group of nerve cells having a common function
  < the respiratory center >
  < the visual or motor center >
 f. : a region showing concentration of population : a large city
  < do not produce here or import … from any other provincial center such perfect musical tailoring — Virgil Thomson >
 g. : a group of activities of the military each under its own commander but all having closely related functions and an overall commander
  < medical center >
  < separation center >
 h. : a concentration of requisite facilities for an activity, pursuit, or interest along with various likely adjunct conveniences
  < shopping center >
  < medical center >
  < amusement center >
 i. : the ultimate head of an endocentric construction
3. : middle part in contrast to sides, boundaries, outskirts, circumference, or peripheral features : middle area : 

midst

 < the crown or arching center of the road — Thomas DeQuincey >
 < at the center of the battle >
: a person or persons stationed or acting at or near the middle : a thing placed at the middle : a shot or stroke toward the middle:
 a. : 

core

, 

nucleus

 : material constituting a middle part
  < chocolates with hard centers >
 b. : the middle element laterally of a military formation
 c. sometimes capitalized : legislators and other political figures holding moderate views especially between those of conservatives and liberals; especially : legislators holding moderate views and occupying seats in the middle of a chamber between the right and the left
 d. sometimes capitalizeditalized : a position marked by moderation of political, economic, social, or religious views; also : adherents of moderate views
 e. : the middle part of a theater stage : the most prominent part
 f. : a part of a ballet practice floor away from the bar
  < ballet exercises are easier done at the bar than in the center >
4. : 

centering

 I
5. 
 a. : a player position in the middle of a playing surface or of a line of player positions:
  (1) : the position in the line in football between the guards, the lineman in this position having the extra duty of handing or passing the ball to a back to start each of his team's downs
  (2) : the position in basketball in the center circle at the start of play, the player of this position engaging in the center jump
  (3) : the position in hockey and lacrosse in the mid-area facing circle, the player of this position engaging in the initial face-off
  (4) : 

center three-quarter

 b. : the player of this position
6. 
 a. : a pass of a puck or ball in hockey or lacrosse from either side to or toward the middle of the playing surface
 b. : the handing or passing of a football by the center from his position in the line of scrimmage to one of the backs
  < his bad center sailed over the fullback's head >
 c. : the starting point of a skating figure
7. 
 a. : one of two tapered metal rods that support work in a lathe or grinding machine and about or with which the work revolves
 b. : a conical recess in the end of work (as a shaft) for receiving such a center
Synonyms: 
 

middle

, 

midst

, 

focus

, 

nucleus

, 

heart

, 

core

, 

hub

: in the meaning of that around which a circumference or periphery exists and in the metaphorical extensions of this, these words are often interchangeable and are often used together
  < the very center and focus of literary education — F.N.Robinson >
  < the true center of the book is its core of irony — Dayton Kohler >
  < making that Sunday school what it ought to have been … the heart and focus of the parochial life — Compton Mackenzie >
  In its geometrical sense  suggests more exactness than middle. The latter word may be used for considerations of time
  < in the middle (but not the center) of the night >
  or of a sequence
  < the middle of a series >
   differs further from  in being able to suggest capacity for acting, influencing, effecting. Contrast “he was the center of the conflict” and “he was in the middle of the conflict”.  suggests location well within a perimeter or situation of being surrounded or beset by matters important, demanding, or threatening
  < the small democratic island in the midst of the European sea of dictatorship — Books Abroad >
  < we were in the midst of the foam, which boiled around us — Frederick Marryat >
   may suggest a center to which lines converge or on which forces act
  < gold — the focus of desire — Bernard De Voto >
  < the focus of religious life was the church building — H.S.Bennett >
   suggests a center likely to grow, increase, undergo accretion, acquire surrounding or additional matter, force, or numbers
  < not primarily boarding schools but rather day schools with a nucleus of boarders — J.B.Conant >
  < these two institutions have provided our Army and our Navy with the nucleus of their corps of officers — C.T.Lanham >
   indicates a center which either gives an essential nature to the whole or serves as a vital, positive, or motivating part
  < sense knowledge cannot therefore be genuine knowledge, for it does not … get at the heart of reality — Frank Thilly >
  < the industrial northeast, widening westward, became the ruling region, the economic heart; the plantation South and the agrarian West became colonies — Roger Burlingame >
   may add to the ideas of  and  the idea of resistant firmness in which reliability may be placed and imply that peripheral matters are unimportant and adventitious
  < the core or the nucleus upon which all the other civilized democracies of Europe … can one day rally — Sir Winston Churchill >
  < the core of the book, to wit, the allegory — J.L.Lowes >
   may contrast with  and suggest a center whence lines or influences radiate out, a center on which matters peripheral may depend
  < the hub of roads fanning out to the four points of the compass — New York Times >
  < some activities … are relatively isolated; other activities such as those at Pearl Harbor are grouped together to form a vast naval hub — All Hands >
II. verb
(centered ; centered ; centering \-ntəriŋ, -n.triŋ\ ; centers)
Usage: see -er
transitive verb
1. 
 a. : to place or fix at a center or central area or position
  < center a typewriter carriage >
  < center a picture on a wall >
  < the shaft is centered in a city square — American Guide Series: Minnesota >
 b. : to place near a center : cluster near a focal point
  < a hamlet that was centered around the church >
2. : to gather to or around a center, fixed point, or pivot : draw together within a limit : 

collect

, 

concentrate

, 

focus

 < a story to tell, centered around the political development of a great state — J.T.Adams >
 < everything had prepared the Boston mind to center its thoughts on history — Van Wyck Brooks >
 < all work on the plantation was centered on raising foodstuffs — A.W.Long >
 < more scholarship than is usual was centered around the main problems >
3. : to constitute a center of or for : serve as center or centerpiece for : occupy or adorn the center of : give, form, or shape a center for
 < the business square, neat and compact, centers the village — American Guide Series: Vermont >
 < a bowl of white flowers centered the table >
4. 
 a. : to rig up between centers (as in a lathe)
 b. : to form a recess or indentation in (work) for the reception of a center (as in a lathe)
5. 
 a. : to adjust (lenses, mirrors, or other elements in an optical system) so that the axes coincide
 b. : to grind the periphery of (a lens or mirror) to make optical center coincide with geometrical center
6. 
 a. : to pass (a ball or a puck) from either side to or toward the middle of the playing area
 b. : to play center on (a team)
 c. : to hand or pass (a football) backward between one's legs from a position on the ground at the line of scrimmage to a back to begin a down
7. 
 a. : to perforate (a stamp) so that all four margins are of equal width
 b. : to place (a stamp) in relation to the perforations
  < a stamp may be centered to the right or left >
  < a stamp well centered >
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to rest on something as a cardinal point
2. 
 a. : to have a center : cluster or be concentrated : pivot or revolve : 

focus

 — used with in, at, on, upon, about, or around
  < the community centers around a small circular park — American Guide Series: Arkansas >
  < the tribal organization centered in the chief >
 b. : to be primarily concerned : have a dominant theme or climax — used with in, at, on, about, or around
  < another trilogy … would have centered in the battle of Gettysburg — Carl Van Doren >
  < discussions centering successively about such subjects as the weather, the house, the farm — M.L.Hanley >
III. adjective
Usage: see -er
: 

central

 : constituting a center : occupying or occurring at a center : 

middle

 < a center table >
 < a center panel >
 < a center seat in a theater >
 < the center aisle >
IV. noun
: the center of the circle inscribed in a regular polygon