CENTRAL

central 1

— centrally , adv.

/sen"treuhl/ , adj.

1. of or forming the center: the central hut in the village.

2. in, at, or near the center: a central position.

3. constituting something from which other related things proceed or upon which they depend: a central office.

4. principal; chief; dominant: the play's central character.

5. Anat. , Zool.

a. of or pertaining to the central nervous system.

b. of or pertaining to the centrum of a vertebra.

6. Phonet. (of a speech sound) produced with the tongue articulating neither expressly forward nor in the back part of the mouth, as any of the sounds of lull.

7. Physics. (of a force) directed to or from a fixed point.

n.

8. (formerly)

a. a main telephone exchange.

b. a telephone operator at such an exchange.

[ 1640-50; centralis, equiv. to centr ( um ) CENTER + -alis -AL 1 ]

Syn. 4. major, main, key, leading, primary.

central 2

/sen trahl"/ ; Sp. /sen trddahl"/ , n. , pl. centrals , Sp. centrales /-trddah"les/ .

(in Spanish America and the Philippines) a mill for crushing cane into raw sugar.

[ central CENTRAL 1 ]