[see BIT sb.1 6.] An instrument turning on a projecting center-point, used for making cylindrical holes. (Noted as a burglar’s tool.)
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, I. 150. Centre-bit, a bit, having in the middle of its end a small steel point, with a sharp edge on one side to cut horizontally, and a sharp tooth on the opposite side to cut vertically.
1833. A. Fonblanque, Eng. under 7 Admin. (1837), II. 315. There are picklocks, files, and centre-bits available for robbery.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xix. ‘None,’ said Sikes. ‘’Cept a centre-bit and a boy.’
1845. Darwin, Voy. Nat., xviii. (1852), 409. [He] then rapidly turns the curved part, like a carpenter’s centre-bit.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. I. xi. And Sleep must lie down arm’d, for the villainous centre-bits Grind on the wakeful ear in the hush of the moonless nights.
1857. Reade, Never too late, I. ii. 50 (D.). His intelligence bored like a centre-bit into the deep heart of his enemy.
