central — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Being in the centre.

   Examples

   Egyption Thebes; / Tyre by the margin of the sounding waves; / Palmyra, central in the Desert, fell; / And the Arts died by which they had been raised.

   More examples (2)

   The plantoid[…]will have a central stem containing a reservoir of liquid plastic of a sort that can be frozen by ultraviolet light. Half a dozen cylindrical roots will branch off this stem, and the plastic will flow through these from the reservoir to the tip. As in a real root, the tip will be a specialised structure.

   The network had no central ownership or controller; and it did only one thing – transfer data packets from one edge of the network to their destination at another edge.

2. Having or containing the centre of something.

3. Being very important, or key to something.

   Synonyms

   dominantmainprincipal

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Cleverley was a central figure as England took the lead inside three minutes. He saw his shot handled by Moldovan defender Simion Bulgaru and Lampard drilled home the penalty in trademark fashion.

   Passengers crowd in the main concourse at London Euston on January 28 2017, before boarding West Coast Main Line services. The urgent need to relieve congestion and improve reliability on the WCML remains central in the recently published Full Business Case for HS2.

4. Exerting its action towards the peripheral organs.

5. Belong or relating to the center of an algebraic structure. Of an element of an algebraic structure: which commutes with all other elements under multiplication

6. Belong or relating to the center of an algebraic structure. Of a unital algebra over a field: whose center is exactly equal to the image of the base field

Noun

1. center

   Usage

   • US usage
   • especially

Adjective

1. serving as an essential component

   Synonyms

   cardinalfundamentalkeyprimal

   Examples

   a cardinal rule

   the central cause of the problem

   More examples (2)

   an example that was fundamental to the argument

   computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure

2. in or near a center or constituting a center; the inner area

   Antonyms

   peripheral

   Examples

   a central position

Noun

1. a workplace that serves as a telecommunications facility where lines from telephones can be connected together to permit communication

   Synonyms

   telephone exchangeexchange

   Broader terms

   workplacework