dead center
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.89 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Dead center on its back was the design of a large, blue eye that somehow looked familiar."
- "It was this side of new, set back from the street in a lot dead center at the end of a cul-de-sac."
- "Now, the Ouija board sat dead center."
- "Damascus White sat dead center in the back of the booth."
- "I give it a flick, so the daisy charm swings back and forth like a pendulum, dead center in the middle of his windshield."
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.
Usage
- American usage
Inflected Forms
dead centers (plural)
dead-center (alternative)
deadcenter (alternative)
dead centre (alternative)
dead-centre (alternative)