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main

 - 6 dictionary results

main

1  [meyn]
Use main in a Sentence
–adjective
1. chief in size, extent, or importance; principal; leading: the company's main office; the main features of a plan.
2. sheer; utmost, as strength or force: to lift a stone by main force.
3. of or pertaining to a broad expanse: main sea.
4. Grammar. syntactically independent; capable of use in isolation. Compare dependent (def. 4), independent (def. 14), main clause.
5. Nautical.
a. of or pertaining to a mainmast.
b. noting or pertaining to a sail, yard, boom, etc., or to any rigging belonging to a mainmast.
c. noting any stay running aft and upward to the head of a mainmast: main topmast stay.
6. Obsolete.
a. having or exerting great strength or force; mighty.
b. having momentous or important results; significant.
–noun
7. a principal pipe or duct in a system used to distribute water, gas, etc.
8. physical strength, power, or force: to struggle with might and main.
9. the chief or principal part or point: The main of their investments was lost during the war.
10. Literary. the open ocean; high sea: the bounding main.
11. the mainland.
–adverb
12. South Midland U.S. (chiefly Appalachian). very; exceedingly: The dogs treed a main big coon.
–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)
13. Slang. mainline.
—Idiom
14. in the main, for the most part; chiefly: In the main, the novel was dull reading.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME meyn, mayn strength, power, OE mægen, c. ON megin(n), megn strength; (adj.) ME mayn, partly < ON megenn, megn strong, partly independent use of OE mægen (n.) taken as an adj. in compounds, as in mægen-weorc, lit., work of might

Synonyms:
1. cardinal, prime, paramount, primary, capital. 2. pure, direct. 7. conduit. 8. might.

Antonyms:
1. secondary, least. 8. weakness.

main

2  [meyn]
–noun
a cockfighting match.
Origin:
1560–70; perh. special use of main 1 ; cf. main chance

Main

  [meyn; Ger. mahyn]
–noun
a river in central and W Germany, flowing W from the Bohemian Forest in N Bavaria into the Rhine at Mainz. 305 mi. (490 km) long.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To main
main   (mān)   
adj.  

  1. Most important; principal. See Synonyms at chief.

  2. Exerted to the utmost; sheer: by main strength.

  3. Nautical Connected to or located near the mainmast: a main skysail.

  4. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the principal clause or verb of a complex sentence.

  5. Obsolete Of or relating to a continuous area or stretch, as of land or water.

n.  

  1. The chief or largest part: His ideas are, in the main, impractical.

  2. The principal pipe or conduit in a system for conveying water, gas, oil, or other utility.

  3. Physical strength: fought with might and main.

  4. A mainland.

  5. The open ocean.

  6. Nautical

    1. A mainsail.

    2. A mainmast.


[Middle English, from Old English mægen, strength; see magh- in Indo-European roots.]
Main   (mān, mīn)   
A river rising in eastern Germany and flowing about 499 km (310 mi) generally westward to the Rhine River at Mainz.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

main

In addition to the idioms beginning with main, also see eye to the main chance; in the main; might and main.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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