'Dead center' definitions:

Definition of 'dead center'

noun

The position of a crank when it is in line with the connecting rod and not exerting torque [syn: dead center, dead centre]

Definition of 'Dead center'

From: GCIDE

Dead \Dead\ (d[e^]d), a. [OE. ded, dead, deed, AS. de['a]d; akin to OS. d[=o]d, D. dood, G. todt, tot, Icel. dau[eth]r, Sw. & Dan. d["o]d, Goth. daubs; prop. p. p. of an old verb meaning to die. See Die, and cf. Death.]
1. Deprived of life; -- opposed to alive and living; reduced to that state of a being in which the organs of motion and life have irrevocably ceased to perform their functions; as, a dead tree; a dead man. "The queen, my lord, is dead." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The crew, all except himself, were dead of hunger. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
Seek him with candle, bring him dead or living. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter. [1913 Webster]
3. Resembling death in appearance or quality; without show of life; deathlike; as, a dead sleep. [1913 Webster]
4. Still as death; motionless; inactive; useless; as, dead calm; a dead load or weight. [1913 Webster]
5. So constructed as not to transmit sound; soundless; as, a dead floor. [1913 Webster]
6. Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade. [1913 Webster]
7. Lacking spirit; dull; lusterless; cheerless; as, dead eye; dead fire; dead color, etc. [1913 Webster]
8. Monotonous or unvaried; as, a dead level or pain; a dead wall. "The ground is a dead flat." --C. Reade. [1913 Webster]
9. Sure as death; unerring; fixed; complete; as, a dead shot; a dead certainty. [1913 Webster]
I had them a dead bargain. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
10. Bringing death; deadly. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
11. Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works. "Dead in trespasses." --Eph. ii. 1. [1913 Webster]
12. (Paint.) (a) Flat; without gloss; -- said of painting which has been applied purposely to have this effect. (b) Not brilliant; not rich; thus, brown is a dead color, as compared with crimson. [1913 Webster]
13. (Law) Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property; as, one banished or becoming a monk is civilly dead. [1913 Webster]
14. (Mach.) Not imparting motion or power; as, the dead spindle of a lathe, etc. See Spindle. [1913 Webster]
15. (Elec.) Carrying no current, or producing no useful effect; -- said of a conductor in a dynamo or motor, also of a telegraph wire which has no instrument attached and, therefore, is not in use. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
16. Out of play; regarded as out of the game; -- said of a ball, a piece, or a player under certain conditions in cricket, baseball, checkers, and some other games.
[In golf], a ball is said to lie dead when it lies so near the hole that the player is certain to hole it in the next stroke. --Encyc. of Sport. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Dead ahead (Naut.), directly ahead; -- said of a ship or any object, esp. of the wind when blowing from that point toward which a vessel would go.
Dead angle (Mil.), an angle or space which can not be seen or defended from behind the parapet.
Dead block, either of two wooden or iron blocks intended to serve instead of buffers at the end of a freight car.
Dead calm (Naut.), no wind at all.
Dead center, or Dead point (Mach.), either of two points in the orbit of a crank, at which the crank and connecting rod lie a straight line. It corresponds to the end of a stroke; as, A and B are dead centers of the crank mechanism in which the crank C drives, or is driven by, the lever L.
Dead color (Paint.), a color which has no gloss upon it.
Dead coloring (Oil paint.), the layer of colors, the preparation for what is to follow. In modern painting this is usually in monochrome.
Dead door (Shipbuilding), a storm shutter fitted to the outside of the quarter-gallery door.
Dead flat (Naut.), the widest or midship frame.
Dead freight (Mar. Law), a sum of money paid by a person who charters a whole vessel but fails to make out a full cargo. The payment is made for the unoccupied capacity. --Abbott.
Dead ground (Mining), the portion of a vein in which there is no ore.
Dead hand, a hand that can not alienate, as of a person civilly dead. "Serfs held in dead hand." --Morley. See Mortmain.
Dead head (Naut.), a rough block of wood used as an anchor buoy.
Dead heat, a heat or course between two or more race horses, boats, etc., in which they come out exactly equal, so that neither wins.
Dead horse, an expression applied to a debt for wages paid in advance. [Law]
Dead language, a language which is no longer spoken or in common use by a people, and is known only in writings, as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Dead plate (Mach.), a solid covering over a part of a fire grate, to prevent the entrance of air through that part.
Dead pledge, a mortgage. See Mortgage.
Dead point. (Mach.) See Dead center.
Dead reckoning (Naut.), the method of determining the place of a ship from a record kept of the courses sailed as given by compass, and the distance made on each course as found by log, with allowance for leeway, etc., without the aid of celestial observations.
Dead rise, the transverse upward curvature of a vessel's floor.
Dead rising, an elliptical line drawn on the sheer plan to determine the sweep of the floorheads throughout the ship's length.
Dead-Sea apple. See under Apple.
Dead set. See under Set.
Dead shot. (a) An unerring marksman. (b) A shot certain to be made.
Dead smooth, the finest cut made; -- said of files.
Dead wall (Arch.), a blank wall unbroken by windows or other openings.
Dead water (Naut.), the eddy water closing in under a ship's stern when sailing.
Dead weight. (a) A heavy or oppressive burden. --Dryden. (b) (Shipping) A ship's lading, when it consists of heavy goods; or, the heaviest part of a ship's cargo. (c) (Railroad) The weight of rolling stock, the live weight being the load. --Knight.
Dead wind (Naut.), a wind directly ahead, or opposed to the ship's course.
To be dead, to die. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
I deme thee, thou must algate be dead. --Chaucer.
Syn: Inanimate; deceased; extinct. See Lifeless. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'dead center'

From: GCIDE

center \cen"ter\ (s[e^]n"t[~e]r), n. [F. centre, fr. L. centrum, fr. Gr. ke`ntron any sharp point, the point round which a circle is described, fr. kentei^n to prick, goad.]
1. A point equally distant from the extremities of a line, figure, or body, or from all parts of the circumference of a circle; the middle point or place. [1913 Webster]
2. The middle or central portion of anything. [1913 Webster]
3. A principal or important point of concentration; the nucleus around which things are gathered or to which they tend; an object of attention, action, or force; as, a center of attaction. [1913 Webster]
4. The earth. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. Those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who support the existing government. They sit in the middle of the legislative chamber, opposite the presiding officer, between the conservatives or monarchists, who sit on the right of the speaker, and the radicals or advanced republicans who occupy the seats on his left, See Right, and Left. [1913 Webster]
6. (Arch.) A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting. [1913 Webster]
7. (Mech.) (a) One of the two conical steel pins, in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves. (b) A conical recess, or indentation, in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe. [1913 Webster]
Note: In a lathe the
live center is in the spindle of the head stock; the
dead center is on the tail stock.
Planer centers are stocks carrying centers, when the object to be planed must be turned on its axis. [1913 Webster]
Center of an army, the body or troops occupying the place in the line between the wings.
Center of a curve or Center of a surface (Geom.) (a) A point such that every line drawn through the point and terminated by the curve or surface is bisected at the point. (b) The fixed point of reference in polar coordinates. See Coordinates.
Center of curvature of a curve (Geom.), the center of that circle which has at any given point of the curve closer contact with the curve than has any other circle whatever. See Circle.
Center of a fleet, the division or column between the van and rear, or between the weather division and the lee.
Center of gravity (Mech.), that point of a body about which all its parts can be balanced, or which being supported, the whole body will remain at rest, though acted upon by gravity.
Center of gyration (Mech.), that point in a rotating body at which the whole mass might be concentrated (theoretically) without altering the resistance of the intertia of the body to angular acceleration or retardation.
Center of inertia (Mech.), the center of gravity of a body or system of bodies.
Center of motion, the point which remains at rest, while all the other parts of a body move round it.
Center of oscillation, the point at which, if the whole matter of a suspended body were collected, the time of oscillation would be the same as it is in the actual form and state of the body.
Center of percussion, that point in a body moving about a fixed axis at which it may strike an obstacle without communicating a shock to the axis.
Center of pressure (Hydros.), that point in a surface pressed by a fluid, at which, if a force equal to the whole pressure and in the same line be applied in a contrary direction, it will balance or counteract the whole pressure of the fluid. [1913 Webster] Center