main stem


nounSlang.
  1. the main street of a city or town; the main drag.

Origin of main stem

1
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use main stem in a sentence

  • Everything that might hinder its development is removed, and any off-shoot of the main stem is skilfully cut off.

  • Nephews and cousins bearing the same name had succumbed to intermarriage and degeneracy, yet the main stem had grown straight.

    The Code of the Mountains | Charles Neville Buck
  • The congestion on the main stem of the Pennsylvania railway between Pittsburg and Philadelphia is a case in point.

  • Its trunk was buried in the tangle of rank summer growth, but a branch had been broken off and left a hole in the main stem.

    Two Little Savages | Ernest Thompson Seton
  • Flat, cartilaginous main stem, much branched, and all beset with pinnul.

    The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide | Augusta Foote Arnold