core

1 the seat of one's deepest thoughts and emotions <in my very core I knew that an injustice was being committed> Synonyms belly, blood, bone(s), bosom, breast, gut, heart, heartstrings, inner space, inside, quick, soul Related Words conscience, mind

2 a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest <the capitol building is the core of the political life of the state> Synonyms axis, base, capital, central, center, cynosure, epicenter, eye, focus, ground zero, heart, hub, locus, mecca, navel, nerve center, nexus, nucleus, omphalos, seatRelated Words headquarters; happy hunting ground, hive, hotbed, hot spot, playground, playland; kernel, nub, pith; deep, thick; essence, quintessence, soul; attraction, lodestone (also loadstone), magnet, polestar

3 the central part or aspect of something under consideration <at last, we come to the core of the issue that has been dividing us> Synonyms bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, crux, essence, gist, heart, kernel, keynote, meat, meat and potatoes, net, nub, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sumRelated Words course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis

4 the main or greater part of something as distinguished from its subordinate parts <a starfish can even survive the division of its core into two parts; both halves then regenerate> Synonyms brunt, bulk, chief, body, generality, heft [archaic], main, mass, staple, weightRelated Words majority; aggregate, amount, entirety, quantum, sum, sum total, total, totality, whole; bottom, essence, essentiality, marrow, meat, nature, pith, quintessence, root, soul, stuff, substance; center, heart, hub, kernel, middle, nucleus, nut, seat; affair, argument, burden, crux, focus, gist, nub, pitch, point, purport; matter, motif, subject, text, theme, topicNear Antonyms accessory (also accessary), adjunct, appendage, extension, offshoot; component, constituent, element, ingredient; division, part, piece, section, segment; angle, aspect, facet, feature, quality, side

5 an area or point that is an equal distance from all points along an edge or outer surface <the mountain rises from ground that is almost precisely at the island's core> Synonyms center, middle, midpoint, midstRelated Words inside, interiorAntonyms perimeter, periphery