eccentric

Pluraleccentrics

1. 1
   quirkyadjective

   Of a person, acting in ways that are unusual and a little strange.

   Our eccentric neighbor wears a top hat to walk his cat.

   My aunt is eccentric, but everyone in town loves her.

   Similarodd, quirky, unconventional, strange, peculiar

   Oppositeconventional, normal, ordinary

   Note
2. 2
   a strange personnouncountable

   A person who acts differently from others, often with strange habits or ideas.

   The town's best-known eccentric rides a unicycle to the post office.

   My grandfather was a lovable eccentric who collected old keys.

   Similarcharacter

   Note
3. 3
   off centeradjective

   Not in the middle, but away from the center.

   The hole in the wheel was eccentric, so it wobbled when it turned.

   In the photo, the cell's nucleus is eccentric, pushed over to one edge.

   Similaroff-center

   Oppositecentral, centered

   Note
4. 4
   lowering exercisenouncountable

   An exercise in which the movement goes against the way a muscle tightens.

   Her coach added slow eccentrics to the end of every workout.

   The coach told him to take four full seconds on each eccentric.

   Note
5. 5
   adjective

   Of a movement, going the opposite way from the way a working muscle pulls.

   Lowering the dumbbell slowly is the eccentric part of a curl.

   Walking downhill uses eccentric movements of the thigh muscles.

   Oppositeconcentric

   Note
6. 6
   machine partnouncountable

   A wheel that turns around a point that is not its center, making something move back and forth.

   The eccentric on the shaft pushes the pump rod up and down.

   The old steam engine had two eccentrics that moved its valves.

   Note
7. 7
   oval (orbits)adjective

   Shaped like a stretched circle, not perfectly round.

   The comet has an eccentric orbit that brings it close to the sun and then far away.

   Pluto's orbit is so eccentric that it sometimes comes closer to the sun than Neptune does.

   Similarelliptical

   Oppositecircular

   Note
8. 8
   off centeradjective

   Not having the same middle point as another circle or shape.

   The inner circle is eccentric, so the ring around it is thicker on one side.

   The pipe and its outer sleeve are eccentric, so the gap is wider at the top.

   Oppositeconcentric

9. 9
   ancient astronomynouncountable

   A circle whose middle point is not the same as another circle's.

   Early astronomers moved the sun onto an eccentric to make their charts match the sky.

   In the diagram, the two eccentrics overlap, but their centers are far apart.

   Note
10. 10
    different goalsadjective

    Wanting different things or having different reasons from someone else.

    Note
11. 11
    off centeradjective

    Of a spore, having one big drop of oil on one side that pushes its other contents over.

    Under the microscope, each spore looked eccentric, with its big oil drop off to one side.

    The lab guide says to check whether the oospores are eccentric or centric.

    Oppositecentric

    Note

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