a. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_; a point, a center. ] Not centered; without a center. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having a subterminal centromere an acrocentric chromosome [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. 'a`nqrwpos man + &unr_; center. ] Assuming man as the center or ultimate end; -- applied to theories of the universe or of any part of it, as the solar system. Draper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an inclination to evaluate reality exclusively in terms of human values.
Syn. -- anthropocentrism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 an inclination to evaluate reality exclusively in terms of human values.
Syn. -- anthropocentricity. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Gr. bary`s heavy + ke`ntron center. ] Of or pertaining to the center of gravity. See Barycentric calculus, under Calculus. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }. (Gas Manuf.) A compound hydraulic valve for regulating the passage of the gas through a set of purifiers so as to cut out each one in turn for the renewal of the lime. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. centralis, fr. centrum: cf. F. central. See Center. ] Relating to the center; situated in or near the center or middle; containing the center; of or pertaining to the parts near the center; equidistant or equally accessible from certain points. [ 1913 Webster ]

Central force (Math.), a force acting upon a body towards or away from a fixed or movable center. --
Center sun (Astron.), a name given to a hypothetical body about which Mädler supposed the solar system together with all the stars in the Milky Way, to be revolving. A point near Alcyone in the Pleiades was supposed to possess characteristics of the position of such a body. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ NL. centrale, fr. L. centralis. ] (Anat.) The central, or one of the central, bones of the carpus or or tarsus. In the tarsus of man it is represented by the navicular. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as centralization. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. The state or condition of being central; the combination of several parts into one whole; centralization. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The system by which power is centralized, as in a government. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. advocating centralization. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Centralities The state of being central; tendency towards a center. [ 1913 Webster ]

Meantime there is a great centrality, a centripetence equal to the centrifugence. R. W. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. centralisation. ] The act or process of centralizing, or the state of being centralized; the act or process of combining or reducing several parts into a whole; as, the centralization of power in the general government; the centralization of commerce in a city. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Centralized p. pr. & vb. n. Centralizing. ] [ Cf. F. centraliser. ] To draw or bring to a center point; to gather into or about a center; to bring into one system, or under one control. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ To ] centralize the power of government. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. drawn toward a center or brought under the control of a central authority; as, centralized control of emergency relief efforts; centralized government. Opposite of decentralized. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. concentrated on or clustered around a central point or purpose; -- contrasting with distributed.
Syn. -- centered, centred, focused. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. prenom. causing to concentrate at a center. Opposite of decentralizing. [ Narrower terms: centripetal, unifying(prenominal) ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a central manner or situation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord; -- abbreviated CNS.
Syn. -- CNS. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a genus of southern European herbs and subshrubs.
Syn. -- genus Centranthus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. any of a group of small carnivorous freshwater percoid fishes of North America usually having a laterally compressed body and metallic luster: crappies; black bass; bluegills; pumpkinseed.
Syn. -- sunfish. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a natural family of fish comprising the sunfishes. See sunfish.
Syn. -- family Centrarchidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Centered or Centred p. pr. & vb. n. Centering or Centring. ] 1. To be placed in a center; to be central. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be collected to a point; to be concentrated; to rest on, or gather about, as a center. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where there is no visible truth wherein to center, error is as wide as men's fancies. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our hopes must center in ourselves alone. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } v. t. 1. To place or fix in the center or on a central point. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To collect to a point; to concentrate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy joys are centered all in me alone. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mech.) To form a recess or indentation for the reception of a center. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. See Center. [ chiefly British ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. An instrument turning on a center, for boring holes. See Bit, n., 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Naut.) A retractable or sliding keel used on sailboats, formed of a broad board or slab of wood or metal which may be raised into a water-tight case amidships, when in shallow water, or may be lowered to increase the area of lateral resistance and prevent drifting to leeward when the vessel is beating to windward. It is used in vessels of all sizes along the coast of the United States
Syn. -- centreboard, drop keel, sliding keel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as centerboard.
Syn. -- centerboard, drop keel, sliding keel. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. same as centered.
Syn. -- centered, centralized, focused. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. 1. An ornament to be placed in the center, as of a table, ceiling, atc.; a central article or figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: An arrangement of flowers placed in the center of a table as an ornament while dining. [ PJC ]

3. The central or most important feature of an activity, plan, or object; as, the centerpiece of her campaign was a proposal to slash taxes. [ PJC ]

n. same as centerpiece.
Syn. -- centerpiece. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ or }. (Mech.) (a) A punch for making indentations or dots in a piece of work, as for suspension between lathe centers, etc. (b) A punch for punching holes in sheet metal, having a small conical center to insure correct locating. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ or }. (Gas Manuf.) A compound hydraulic valve for regulating the passage of the gas through a set of purifiers so as to cut out each one in turn for the renewal of the lime. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. a contracted form of CENTRal EXchange. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. Placed in the center or middle; central; situated at or near a center. [ 1913 Webster ]

At York or some other centrical place. Sir W. Scott.

-- Cen"tric*al*ly, adv. -- Cen"tric*al*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being centric; centricalness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. centrum center + fugere to flee. ] 1. Tending, or causing, to recede from the center. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the summit, and later at the base, as a flower cluster. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the sides of the fruit, as some embryos. [ 1913 Webster ]

Centrifugal force (Mech.), a force whose direction is from a center. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When a body moves in a circle with uniform velocity, a force must act on the body to keep it in the circle without change of velocity. The direction of this force is towards the center of the circle. If this force is applied by means of a string to the body, the string will be in a state of tension. To a person holding the other end of the string, this tension will appear to be directed toward the body as if the body had a tendency to move away from the center of the circle which it is describing. Hence this latter force is often called centrifugal force. The force which really acts on the body being directed towards the center of the circle is called centripetal force, and in some popular treatises the centripetal and centrifugal forces are described as opposing and balancing each other. But they are merely the different aspects of the same stress. Clerk Maxwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Centrifugal impression (Physiol.), an impression (motor) sent from a nerve center outwards to a muscle or muscles by which motion is produced. --
Centrifugal machine, A machine for expelling water or other fluids from moist substances, or for separating liquids of different densities by centrifugal action; a whirling table. --
Centrifugal pump, a machine in which water or other fluid is lifted and discharged through a pipe by the energy imparted by a wheel or blades revolving in a fixed case. Some of the largest and most powerful pumps are of this kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A centrifugal machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A filter, as for sugar, in which a cylinder with a porous or foraminous periphery is rapidly rotated so as to drive off liquid by centrifugal action. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. to drive out; to subject to the action of a centrifuge.
Syn. -- centrifuge. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the process of separating substances by the use of a centrifuge. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an apparatus having containers for liquids arrayed around a central pivot and rotated at a high speed, thus generating centrifugal force on the liquid, and separating substances (such as particles of solid or globules of an immiscible liquid) mixed together in suspension within the liquid. Suspensions which would settle only very slowly or not at all under gravity can be made to separate quickly in such a device. The containers for holding the liquid in a centrifuge are held in a metal frame called the head or trunnion. The solid material collected at teh bottom of the liquid container is called the pellet. A centrifuge designed to run at very high speeds and thus generate very high centrifugal force is called an ultracentrifuge.
Syn. -- extractor, separator. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. 1 to drive out; to subject to the action of a centrifuge.
Syn. -- centrifugate. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The property or quality of being centrifugal. R. W. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to separate (particles in a suspension) from a liquid by centrifugation.
Syn. -- centrifugate. [ PJC ]

n. See Centring. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) one of two small cylindrical cell organelles composes of nine triplet microtubules, which form the asters during mitosis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. centrum center + petere to move toward. ] 1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and proceeding in order towards the summit. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit, as some embryos. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center; as, the centripetal calcification of a bone. R. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

Centripetal force (Mech.), a force whose direction is towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving round the sun, the center of the system, See Centrifugal force, under Centrifugal. --
Centripetal impression (Physiol.), an impression (sensory) transmitted by an afferent nerve from the exterior of the body inwards, to the central organ. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Centripetency. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Tendency toward the center. [ 1913 Webster ]