main street

Origin

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noun

the principal thoroughfare, especially through the business district, in a small town.

(initial capital letters) the outlook, environment, or life of a small town.

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Origin:
1735–45

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Main street is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

a novel (1920) by Sinclair Lewis.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To main street

Collins

World English Dictionary

Main Street

—n chiefly (US), (Canadian)
1.	the most prominent street of a town, usually where the principal shops and businesses are situatedordinary people in general
2.	the most prominent street of a town, usually where the principal shops and businesses are situatedordinary people in general

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

Main Street

"principal street of a (U.S.) town," 1810. Used allusively to indicate "mediocrity, small-town materialism" from late 19c., esp. since publication of Sinclair Lewis's novel "Main Street" (1920).

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Matching Quote

"Anyone having that dual familiarity with prewar small towns and modern shopping malls will ... be repelled by the comparison. A preoccupation with physical facades coupled with a lack of sociological insight is common among the mall's many fans.... Totally unlike Main Street, the shopping mall is populated by strangers. As people circulate about in the constant, monotonous flow of mall pedestrian traffic, their eyes do not cast about for familiar faces, for the chance of seeing one is small. That is not part of what one expects there. The reason is simple. The mall is centrally located to serve the multitudes from a number of outlying developments within its region. There is little acquaintance between these developments and not much more within them. Most of them lack focal points or core settings and, as a result, people are not widely known to one another, even in their own neighborhoods, and their neighborhood is only a minority portion of the mall's clientele."

-Ray Oldenburg