main

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Of chief or leading importance

   Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.

   • The main office is actually one of the smaller rooms.
2. 2

   Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength

   Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.

   • main timbers
   • main branch of a river
   • main body of an army
3. 3

   Full, sheer, undivided.

   • […] I shall never forget the diabolical sneer which writhed Rashleigh's wayward features, as I was forced from the apartment by the main strength of two of these youthful Titans.
4. ›+ 25 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Big

      Big; angry.

   2. 5

      Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.

   3. 6

      Great in size or degree

      Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.

      • And now that Current with main Fury ran / (The Stop remov'd that did the Courſe defend) / Unto the full of Miſchief, that began / T' an univerſal Ruin to extend; […]
   4. 7

      Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

      • Suck[y]. A Draught of Ale, Friend, for I'm main dry. / Pen[elope]. Fie! fie! Niece! Is that Liquor for a young Lady? Don't disparage your Family and Breeding!
      • Why, it's main jolly to be sure, and all that so fair.
      • It was main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as clear as clear […]
   5. 8

      Ellipsis of mainline (“to inject (a drug) directly into a vein”).

   6. 9

      To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game.

      • He mains the same character as me in that game.
      • What race do you main and what is your favourite race to beat?
      • For new players, I recommend maining the dagger and using the axe as a backup weapon.
   7. 10

      To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.

      • The borough did not have an opportunity of conferring with the County Council, but the County Council requested particulars of district roads in the borough which the Council suggested should be mained.
   8. 11

      That which is chief or principal

      That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.

   9. 12

      A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water…

      A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main.

      • There's a gas leak in the main outside the building.
      • [T]he Board would have put down, and indeed have ordered, hydrants where the water companies have put down new mains, or at all events are quite prepared upon those new mains to fix hydrants.
   10. 13

       Ellipsis of main course (“the principal dish of a meal”).

       • I had scampi and chips for my main and a slice of cheesecake for dessert.
   11. 14

       The high seas.

       • Who ſhall him rew, that ſwimming in the maine, / Will die for thriſt, and water doth refuſe? / Refuſe ſuch fruitleſſe toile, and preſent pleaſures chuſe.
       • The God, inſulting with ſuperiour Strength, / Fell heavy on him, plung'd him in the Sea, / And, with the Stern, the Rudder tore away, / Headlong he fell, and, ſtrugling in the Main, / Cry'd out for helping hands, but cry'd in vain: […]
       • Wanton god of am'rous fires, / Wishes, sighs and soft desires, / All nature's sons thy laws maintain; / O'er liquid air, firm land, and swelling main, / Extend thy uncontroul'd and boundless reign.
   12. 15

       The mainland.

       • No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe; euery man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]
       • The higheſt land on the mayne, yet it was but low, we called Keales hill, and theſe vninhabited Iſles, Ruſſels Iſles.
   13. 16

       Ellipsis of mainsail.

   14. 17

       Force, power, strength, violent effort.

       • For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.
   15. 18

       A hand or match in a game of dice.

       • That writing is but juſt like dice, / And lucky mains make people wiſe: / That jumbled words, if fortune throw 'em, / Shall, well as Dryden, form a poem; […]
       • Well-for the rest, will you throw a main?
   16. 19

       The largest throw in a match at dice

       The largest throw in a match at dice; in the game of hazard, a number from one to nine called out by a person before the dice are thrown.

       • Euery man hath not beene brought vp in the knowledge of toungs. And it chanceth often to the reader, as it doth to diceplayers, that gaine more by the bye then by the maine.
   17. 20

       A stake played for at dice.

       • [W]ere it good / To ſet the exact wealth of al our ſtates / Al at one caſt? to ſet ſo rich a maine / On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre?
   18. 21

       A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.

       • My lord was hunting all day when the ſeaſon admitted; he frequented all the cockfights and fairs in the country, and would ride twenty miles to ſee a main fought, or two clowns break their heads at a cudgelling match; […]
   19. 22

       A banker's shovel for coins.

   20. 23

       A basket for gathering grapes.

       • A main [hamper] Corbis vindemiatorius
   21. 24

       A river in southern Germany, flowing from Bavaria to the Rhine.

   22. 25

       A river in Northern Ireland, flowing into Lough Neagh.

   23. 26

       A surname.

   24. 27

       Ellipsis of Main Street, a street named "Main Street".

   25. 28

       Ellipsis of Main Street (“main street”), a central street of a community.

The neighborhood