ENGLISH
REFERENCE

dead center

idiom
Meaning

The exact center.


Origin

disputed origin

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.

Examples
SIMPLE

The target is right in the dead center.

CONTEXTUAL

She placed the vase in the dead center of the table so it looked balanced.

COMPLEX

The architect positioned the grand fountain in the dead center of the courtyard to create a sense of perfect symmetry.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    beat a dead horse

    To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.

  2. 02

    brown bread

    [Cockney slang]dead

  3. 03

    center field

    A central role in some activity that requires speed.

  4. 04

    come back from the dead

    To experience a resurgence after one's productive years are assumed to have ended.

  5. 05

    dead 'n' buried

    Contraction of dead and buried.

  6. 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.

  7. 07

    dead and buried

    Of an issue, moot, passed, irrelevant, forgotten.

  8. 08

    dead asleep

    Sleeping in a deep sleep

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