dead center

[ ded sen-ter ]

adverb

1. in or at the exact midpoint:

   The town is located dead center between Dallas and Houston.

   She took a single shot and hit the cardboard figure dead center.

noun

1. the exact center or midpoint:

   I live in the dead center of the capitol, and parking is a nightmare.

   I hate when people leave their shopping cart in the dead center of the aisle.

2. Machinery.
   1. Also called dead point. (in a reciprocating engine) either of two positions at which the crank cannot be turned by the connecting rod, occurring at each end of a stroke when the crank and connecting rod are in the same line.
   2. a tapered rod, mounted in the tailstock spindle of a lathe, upon which the work to be turned is placed. Compare live center ( def ).

Other Words From

• dead-cen·ter adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dead center¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Julio Rodriguez ended Williams’ run of scoreless innings and his personal home run drought, crushing a sinker over the wall in dead center for this third homer of the year.

From Seattle Times

Sophomore Jordan Woolery, who struck out with the bases loaded in the second inning, didn’t miss in the fifth, delivering a three-run homer to dead center field.

From Los Angeles Times

So, imagine me standing on top of a soapbox, dead center in the middle of a crowd of about 1,000 people, yelling at the top of my lungs, "All books are not created equal!"

From Salon

Nor was it different for do-everything option Dylan Moore, who added a two-run shot to dead center in the seventh, after a scintillating spring.

From Seattle Times

The final pitch of his outing — a fastball that stayed in the middle of the plate — was crushed off the middle of the batter’s eye in dead center by Michael Busch.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• accurate
• precise