centers

1. 1
   more than onenoun

   Plural of center.

   Several research centers collaborated on the long-term climate study.

   The company's two distribution centers handle all regional orders.

   Note

   The same spelling does double duty, as this noun plural and as the present-tense verb (she centers the heading). The plural comes most naturally to places and institutions, as in research centers and distribution centers, and to geometry, where every circle, sphere or line segment has its own center. Centers is the American spelling; British English writes centres.

2. 2
   puts in middleverb

   Third-person singular simple present of center.

   The designer carefully centers each image within its frame.

   Her whole argument centers on a single overlooked fact.

   Note

   Two constructions share this form. Used transitively, it puts something in the middle or adjusts a value to its midpoint: the designer centers the image, the technician centers the voltage. Used intransitively with on, it means to concentrate attention: the debate centers on cost. Its spelling follows the plural noun, with British writers using centres here too.

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