Definition of "dead center" [dead center]

• The point at the end of each stroke of a moving crank and connecting rod at which the two lie in the same straight line and the turning force applied by the connecting rod is zero. Also called dead point. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Beyond the chimney pots, beyond the roof gardens, the cupolas and spires and domes, two more massive buildings rose: the domed Palace of the Wizard, in the dead center of the City, and off to the right, the steep bluestone ramparts of the prison known as Southstairs."
• "As soon as she saw me, she hurled an energy blow that was the magical equivalent of a tactical nuke, arrowing the destructive power dead center at my heart."
• "He and his attorneys at Williams & Connolly had drafted a flowchart replete with circles and lines that resembled something like a distorted Republican Family Tree with Chris Wood dead center of the controversy."