main

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

Adjective

  1. Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.
    • The main office is actually one of the smaller rooms.
    • Religion direct us rather to ſecure inward peace than outward eaſe, to be more careful to avoid everlaſting and intolerable torment than ſhort and light afflictions which are but for a moment; […] In a word, our main...
    • With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable...
  2. 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

    Synonyms: largest

  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. - 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818),...
    • Wounded and overthrown, the Britons continued their resistance, clung round the legs of the Norman steeds, and cumbered their advance; while their brethren, thrusting with pikes, proved every joint and crevice of the...
  4. Big; angry.
  5. Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
  6. 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; […] - 1718, Samuel Daniel, “The History of the Civil War....

Origin

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin, meyn, from main (noun) (see further at etymology 2); compare Old English mæġen (“strong, main, principal”) (used in combination) and Old Norse megn, megenn (“strong, main”). The word is cognate with Old High German megīn (“strong, mighty”) (modern German Möge, Vermögen (“power, wealth”)), and also akin to Old English magan (“to be able to”). See also may.

Derived

drain the main vein left main Main Arm main asteroid belt main battle tank main belt main bitch mainboard mainboom main building mainchain main chance main character main character syndrome main clause main contractor main course maincrop main curtain maindeck main deck main diagonal main dish main drag

Adverb

  1. 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! - 1754, Samuel Foote, “The Knights”, in The Knights. A...
    • Why, it's main jolly to be sure, and all that so fair. - 1778, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “The Camp: A Musical Entertainment”, in The Dramatic Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. With a Memoir of the Author (Dove’s...
    • It was main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as clear as clear […] - 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883,...

Forms

more main most main

Noun Entry 3

  1. That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.
    • Antiochus […] thought it a proper time for him to attempt the recovery of Syria; and Hermias his prime Miniſter preſſed hard for his going in perſon to this war, contrary to the Opinion of Epigenes his General; who...
    • But the King [Henry VII of England], […] preferring his affection to his own line and blood, […] resolved to rest upon the title of Lancaster as the main, and to use the other two, that of marriage, and that of battle,...

    1. (video games) The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character.

      • My WoW main has reached level cap and I’m on my way getting my first alt there as well.

      Antonyms: alt

    2. (Internet slang) A main account.

      • His main got banned after his last post.

      Antonyms: alt

  2. 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 Contract with the Pipe-water Pavior was, as he recollects, to keep the Pavement in Repair for ſix Weeks; did oblige the Contractor to repair many Places in that ſix Weeks; there was a Part of the new Main failed...
    • [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. - 1876 June 19, Guildford...
  3. 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.
  4. 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. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie...
    • 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...
    • 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. - c. 1744, Thomas...
  5. The mainland.
    • In the year that followed of 1589, we gave the Spaniards no breath, but turned challengers, invaded the main of Spain. In which enterprize, although we failed of our end, which was to ſettle Don Antonio in the kingdom...
    • No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe; euery man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […] - 1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […],...
    • The higheſt land on the mayne, yet it was but low, we called Keales hill, and theſe vninhabited Iſles, Ruſſels Iſles. - 1624, Anthony Bagnall, Nathanaell Powell, Anas Todkill, “Chapter V. The Accidents that Hapned in...
  6. Ellipsis of mainsail.
  7. 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...

Origin

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæine, mæȝen, from Old English mæġen (“strength”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“strength, power, might”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“be able”). The word is cognate with Old High German magen, megin, Old Norse magn, megn, megin, Old Saxon megin. More recent senses are derived from the adjective.

Forms

mains

Derived

amain fire main for the main gas main Greta Main in the main main brace mainbrace maincrop main drag mainer mainframe mainful mainland mainline main line main man mainmast mainplane mains mainsail mainsheet mainspring main street

Noun games, gaming

  1. 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; […] - 1689 May 14, Mr. Prior [Matthew Prior?], “Epistle to...
    • 1876, Charles Dickens, All the Year Round That no minute might be wasted, the gay gallants of the time generally had a dice-box and a cast of dice in their pockets. This was convenient in the extreme, as, in the...
    • Well-for the rest, will you throw a main? - 1894, Stanley J. Weyman, chapter VIII, in Under the Red Robe:
  2. 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. - 1598, Richard Barckley, “To the Reader”, in...
    • I had such a run of luck last night, with five for the main, and seven to five all night, until those ruffians wanted to pay me with Altamont’s bill upon me. The luck turned from that minute. Never held the box again...
  3. 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? - c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the...
  4. 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;...
  5. A banker's shovel for coins.

Origin

Uncertain; probably from the adjective main. Evidence is lacking for a derivation from French main (“hand”).

Forms

mains

Noun obsolete, rare

  1. A basket for gathering grapes.
    • A main [hamper] Corbis vindemiatorius - [1751, Robert Ainsworth, Samuel Patrick, “A main”, in Thesaurus Linguæ Latinæ Compendiarius: Or, A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue: […], 3rd edition, London: Printed by...

Origin

Uncertain, possibly from French main (“hand”).

Forms

mains

Related

main de fer main droite main-gauche main gauche ouster le main

Verb

  1. Ellipsis of mainline (“to inject (a drug) directly into a vein”).
  2. 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.
  3. To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.
    • When a rural district council considers that a highway in its district ought to become a main road by reason of its being a medium of communication between great towns, or a thoroughfare to a railway station, or...
    • 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. - 1927, The...

Forms

mains maining mained