concentre

present singular third person concentres · participle present concentring · participle past concentred · past concentred · alternative concenter

1. UKdatedintransitiveTo come together at a common centre.

   Capt. Lewis walked on Shore above this Creek and discovered a high moun from the top of which he had an extensive view, 3 paths Concentering at the moun

   1804, William Clark, The Journals of Lewis and Clark

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   As from each angle of the Vault / Wherein thou lyeſt, a line is brought / Vnto the Kingly founders heart; / So vnto thee, from euery part, / See how our loues doe runne by line, / And dead, concenter in thy Shrine.

   1613, Henry Peacham, “To the Buried Prince” in The Period of Mourning, London: John Helme, signature D2, recto

   Hence, […] whatsoever perfections or properties (except such as are purely personal) are attributed to any of these divine Persons, are the same in all, and may equally be attributed to every one; they being all and every one the same God, in whom all perfections concentre, or, rather, who is all perfection itself.

   17th–18th century (reprinted 1850), William Beveridge, “The Sacerdotal Benediction in the Name of the Trinity”, reprinted in Twenty-six Sermons on Various Subjects Selected from the Works of the Right Rev. William Beveridge, D.D. Lord Bishop of St. Asaph, London: Printed for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, OCLC 697897263, page 80

   [T]he medulla oblongata, wherein it was generally agreed by Dutch anatomiſts, that all the minute nerves from all the organs of the ſeven ſenſes concentered, like ſtreets and winding alleys, into a ſquare.

   1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XIX, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 170

   Synonyms: converge

2. UKdatedintransitiveTo coincide.

   Are we not ſufficiently Brutes, to call that work brutiſh which begets us? […] All Opinions concenter in this, […]

   1686, Charles Cotton (translator), Essays of Michael, Seigneur de Montaigne, London: T. Basset et al., Book 3, Chapter 5, page 156

3. UKdatedtransitiveTo bring together at a common centre.

   [T]hir bright officious Lamps, / Light above Light, for thee alone, as ſeems, / In thee concentring all thir precious beams / Of ſacred influence: […]

   1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature [Ee3], recto, lines 104–107

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   For one ſo rarely tun’d to fit all parts; / For one to whom eſpous’d are all the Arts; / Long have I ſought for: but co’d never ſee / Them all concenter’d in one man, but Thee.

   1648, Robert Herrick, “To the Most Accomplisht Gentleman, Master Edward Norgate, Clark of the Signet to His Majesty. Epig[ram].”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 139

   Whatever has diſtinguiſhed the hero; whatever has elevated the wit; whatever has endeared the lover, are all concentered in Mr Frolick; whoſe life has, for ſeven years, been a regular interchange of intrigues, dangers, waggeries; […]

   1750 October 26 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. [61]. Monday, October 16. 1750.”, in The Rambler, volume III, Edinburgh: [[…] Sands, Murray, and Cochran]; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1750, →OCLC, pages 69–70

   […] for he never on any occaſion diſplayed his ſenſibility to mortifications, which was in proportion to his exceſſive vanity, but concentred within his vindictive ſoul his diſgrace, his reſentment, and his projects of vengeance.

   1795, Helen Maria Williams, Letters Containing a Sketch of the Politics of France, London: G. G. and J. Robinson, Letter 8, page 230

4. UKdatedtransitiveTo focus.

   For an instant the gaze of the horror-stricken multitude was concentred on the ghastly miracle; […]

   1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 311

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   At Princess Paryli’s Ball two young men of singular elegance were observed by Diana, little though she concentered her attention on any figures of the groups.

   1885, George Meredith, chapter 14, in Diana of the Crossways, volume 1, London: Chapman & Hall, pages 294-295

   Education has been concentred on intellectual (and physical) development; but the affections have been left to take care of themselves.

   1908, Edward Carpenter, “Affection in Education”, in The Intermediate Sex, London: Swan Sonnenschein, page 83

5. UKdatedtransitiveTo condense, to concentrate.

   As new discoveries were made incidental difficulties connected with the filling of shells occupied the concentered study of the manufacturers.

   1917, Frank Dilnot, chapter 11, in Lloyd George: The Man and His Story, New York: Harper, page 163

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   Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, / Who never to himself hath said, / This is my own, my native land! […] The wretch, concentered all in self, / Living, shall forfeit fair renown, / And, doubly dying, shall go down / To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, / Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.

   1805, Walter Scott, “Canto Fifth”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza I, pages 161–162

   Ah, I wish you were of my humble temper: the more we limit and concentre happiness, the more certain, I think, we are of securing it—they who widen the circle, encroach upon the boundaries of danger; […]

   1829, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “In which the Hero Shews Decision on More Points than One—More of Isora’s Character is Developed”, in Devereux. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book III, page 83