hub

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the central part of a wheel through which the axle passes

   The mechanic removed the wheel to inspect its hub.

2. 2
   noun

   a central place through which people, goods, information, or activity are connected or distributed

   The port became a major hub for trade across the region.

3. 3
   noun

   a device that connects several computers or other pieces of equipment

   Each workstation was connected to the network hub.

Originally a dialect word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to hob in the sense of a rounded projection. Its wheel-center sense is recorded from the seventeenth century; the modern sense 'center of activity or connections' is a metaphorical extension.

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