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mainline

 - 6 dictionary results

Main Line

 
Use mainline in a Sentence
–noun
1. a fashionable residential district west of Philadelphia.
2. any fashionable district where socially prominent people live.
Related forms:
Main-Line, adjective
Main-Liner, noun

main⋅line

  [meyn-lahyn, -lahyn] verb, -lined, -lin⋅ing, adjective
–verb (used without object) Slang.
1. to inject a narcotic, esp. heroin, directly into a vein.
2. to use or enjoy something without restriction: to mainline on TV movies.
–verb (used with object) Slang.
3. to inject (a narcotic, esp. heroin) directly into a vein.
4. to use, enjoy, or imbibe (something) without restriction: mainlining coffee all day long.
–adjective
5. having a principal, established, or widely accepted position; major; mainstream: the membership of mainline churches.
Origin:
1935–40, Americanism; v., adj. use of main line
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mainline
main·line   (mān'līn')   
v.   main·lined, main·lin·ing, main·lines Slang

v.   tr.
To inject (a drug, such as heroin) directly into a major vein.
v.   intr.
To inject a drug intravenously.
adj.  Being in a principal or well-established position: the mainline churches.
main'lin'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Main Line 
"principal line of a railway," 1841; meaning "affluent area of residence" is 1930s, originally that of Philadelphia, from the "main line" of the Pennsylvania Railroad which added local stops to a string of backwater towns west of the city late 19c. that helped turn them into fashionable suburbs. Meaning "principal vein into which drugs can be injected" is 1933, Amer.Eng. slang; the verb in this sense is from 1934.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: main·line
Pronunciation: 'mAn-'lIn
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: -lined; -lin·ing
transitive senses
, slang : to take by or as if by injecting into a principal vein mainline intransitive senses
, slang : to mainline a narcotic drug (as heroin)

Main Entry: main line
Function: noun
slang : a principal vein of the circulatory system
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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