1
: containing or constituting a center
3
a
: situated at, in, or near the center
the central part of the state
b
: easily accessible from outlying districts
a central location for the new theater
4
a
: centrally placed and superseding separate scattered units
central heating
b
: controlling or directing local or branch activities
the central committee
5
: holding to a middle between extremes : moderate
6
: of, relating to, or comprising the brain and spinal cord
also
: originating within the central nervous system
central deafness
1
: a telephone exchange or operator
2
: a central office or bureau usually controlling others
weather central
3
: a center or hub for a specified activity or group
her house is party central
the family room becomes kid central
Examples of central in a Sentence
Adjective
The house has four rooms and a central chimney.
City planners are looking for a central location for the new hospital.
The evidence was central to the defense's case.
The country's schools are financed by both local and central governments.
The central authority of the company's board is being challenged.
Noun
Our family room becomes kid central on weekends.
a health club that has become dating central for singles in the area
Recent Examples on the Web
Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025
The difficulty of doing so from within Israel’s borders becomes, by the movie’s closing moments, a central fixture of its emotional impact, even though its scrutiny of this personal and political compartmentalization only goes so far.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 24 Feb. 2025
Menachem Z. Rosensaft, TIME, 27 Jan. 2025
In one conversation, Foster, at his long desk in Martha’s Vineyard, and his colleagues, in London, processed a recent client directive: the central of the three towers, which was already planned to accommodate a hotel at its top, should have apartments above the hotel.
—Ian Parker, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for central
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Adjective
The video highlighted the central principles and strengths of this Canada team: sprinting in transition, aggression and relentless movement among them.
—Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025
The difficulty of doing so from within Israel’s borders becomes, by the movie’s closing moments, a central fixture of its emotional impact, even though its scrutiny of this personal and political compartmentalization only goes so far.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 24 Feb. 2025
Noun
One other central, if not overriding, purpose of Holocaust remembrance, however, must be to think of the millions who were annihilated not as impersonal statistics but as individuals with names, faces, identities, dreams, and emotions.
—Menachem Z. Rosensaft, TIME, 27 Jan. 2025
In one conversation, Foster, at his long desk in Martha’s Vineyard, and his colleagues, in London, processed a recent client directive: the central of the three towers, which was already planned to accommodate a hotel at its top, should have apartments above the hotel.
—Ian Parker, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for central
Cite this Entry
“Central.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/central. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
central
adjective
cen·tral
ˈsen-trəl 
1
: of or concerning the centrum of a vertebra
2
a
: of, relating to, or comprising the brain and spinal cord
b
: originating within the central nervous system : caused by factors originating in the central nervous system
central precocious puberty
3
: affecting or involving the trunk of the body and especially the abdomen
central adiposity
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