dead center
The exact center.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The target is right in the dead center.”
“He hits the ball in the dead center of the bat.”
“She placed the vase in the dead center of the table so it looked balanced.”
“If you park your car in the dead center of two spaces, other drivers will get very frustrated with you.”
“The teacher writes the main topic in the dead center of the whiteboard before starting the lesson.”
“The hiker realized he was standing in the dead center of a clearing, surrounded by tall pine trees on every side.”
“The architect positioned the grand fountain in the dead center of the courtyard to create a sense of perfect symmetry.”
The term originates as a variant of the earlier dead-point, used to identify a specific position in the cycle of a piston. In this construction, the adjective dead functions simultaneously to denote an exact location and a state of being without force imparted.
As the piston passes through dead center, there is an instant when the mechanism is neither being pushed nor being pulled. The motion relies entirely on momentum, as the point itself provides no mechanical advantage to the engine.
- 01
beat a dead horse
To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.
- 02
brown bread
[Cockney slang]dead
- 03
center field
A central role in some activity that requires speed.
- 04
come back from the dead
To experience a resurgence after one's productive years are assumed to have ended.
- 05
dead 'n' buried
Contraction of dead and buried.
- 06
dead air
An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which nothing is transmitted: a silent period on radio or a silent period with no picture on television.
- 07
dead and buried
Of an issue, moot, passed, irrelevant, forgotten.
- 08
dead asleep
Sleeping in a deep sleep
Last updated August 10, 2026