American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition - adj. Situated at, in, or near the center: the central
states. - adj. Forming the center. - adj. Having dominant or
controlling power or influence: the company's central office. -
adj. Of basic importance; essential or principal: "Performance,
including technological invention and artistic creation, will
become central to education at all levels” ( Frederick Turner).
- adj. Easily reached from various points: a central location
for the new store. - adj. Of or constituting a single source
controlling all components of a system: central air
conditioning. - adj. Anatomy Of, relating to, or originating
from the nervous system. - adj. Anatomy Relating to a centrum. -
adj. Linguistics Articulated in the middle of the oral cavity;
neither front nor back. Used of vowels, as the u in cut. - adj.
Holding to a moderate ideological position between two extremes.
- n. A telephone exchange. - n. An operator at a telephone
exchange. - n. An office or age