dead center

See also: dead-center and deadcenter

English

Alternative forms

• dead-center, deadcenter
• (UK) dead centre, dead-centre

Etymology

The sense referring to a piston position was originally a variant of earlier dead-point. The adjective carries two of its senses at once in this construction: both "exact" and "without force imparted". As the piston passes through dead center, there is an instant when it is neither being pushed nor being pulled.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

dead center (plural dead centers) (American spelling)

1. Synonym of dead point: the position at which a crank is in a direct line with a connecting rod.

   Hyponyms: bottom dead center, top dead center

2. A nonrevolving center in a lathe.
3. (idiomatic) The exact center.
   • 1894, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, the Dead-Center Shot:

Synonyms

• (exact center): bullseye

Derived terms

• bottom dead center
• top dead center

Translations

position of the crank of a piston when it is in line with the connecting rod

• Catalan: punt mort m
• Czech: úvrať (cs) f
• Finnish: kuolokohta
• German: toter Punkt m, Totpunkt m (less frequent)
• Romanian: punct mort (ro) n
• Russian: мёртвая то́чка f (mjórtvaja tóčka)
• Turkish: ölü nokta (tr)

idiomatic: precise center

• Finnish: napakymppi (fi)
• Vietnamese: chính giữa

Adjective

dead center (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of dead-center
   • 2000, L. R. Manley, Thrillseekers.Com: A Novel:

     Dead center on its back was the design of a large, blue eye that somehow looked familiar.

   • 2015, Sybil Bartel, Impossible Promise:

     It was this side of new, set back from the street in a lot dead center at the end of a cul-de-sac.

Adverb

dead center (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of dead-center
   • 2013, Ellie James, Broken Illusions:

     Now, the Ouija board sat dead center.

   • 2013, Jaye Wells, Rusted Veins: A Sabina Kane Novella:

     Damascus White sat dead center in the back of the booth.

   • 2013, Jenny Han, Siobhan Vivian, Fire with Fire:

     I give it a flick, so the daisy charm swings back and forth like a pendulum, dead center in the middle of his windshield.

References

• “dead-ˌcentre | dead-ˌcenter, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1894.

Anagrams

• dead centre