axis

1 a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest in addition to being the suburb's social axis, the country club is the place where deals are made and partnerships are forged Synonyms center, base, capital, central, core, 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

2 an association of persons, parties, or states for mutual assistance and protection an axis of previously nonaligned nations Synonyms alliance, confederacy, bloc, block, coalition, combination, combine, confederation, federation, league, unionRelated Words cabal, conspiracy, junto; cartel, syndicate, trust; faction, front, fusion, side, wing; association, group, organization; affiliation, cooperative, partnership; circuit, conference