Link Centre Dictionary

main

US/meɪn/ common informal slang uk us
adjective (3) noun (2)

adjective

1.

most important element

  • “the chief aim of living”
  • “the main doors were of solid glass”
  • “the principal rivers of America”
  • “the principal example”
  • “policemen were primary targets”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

of a clause; able to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence

  • “the main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

of force; of the greatest possible intensity

  • “by main strength”
Similar

noun

1.

any very large body of (salt) water

Synonyms
2.

a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage

Origin

* As a Scottish surname, reduced from the North Germanic name Magnus. Also from the adjective main. * As a Scottish, English, French and Norman surname, from personal names derived from Proto-West Germanic *magan (“to be able”), similar to Mein. * As a Scottish, English and Norman surname, from the French province of Maine. Compare Mansell. * As a Scottish, English, and Norman surname, from the Anglo-Norman adjective maine (“great, large”), from Old French magne. * As a Scottish, English, Norman and French surname, from the noun main (“hand”).

Phrases

  • fire main Terms derived from main (noun)
  • for the main Terms derived from main (noun)
  • gas main Terms derived from main (noun)
  • Greta Main Terms derived from main (noun)
  • in the main Terms derived from main (noun)
  • main brace Terms derived from main (noun)
  • main drag Terms derived from main (noun)
  • main line Terms derived from main (noun)

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.