Link Centre Dictionary

mainstay

mains·tay

UK/ˈmeɪn.steɪ/ US/ˈmeɪˌnsteɪ/ uncommon

noun

1.

a prominent supporter

  • “he is a pillar of the community”
Synonyms
2.

a central cohesive source of support and stability

  • “faith is his anchor”
  • “the keystone of campaign reform was the ban on soft money”
  • “he is the linchpin of this firm”
Synonyms
3.

the forestay that braces the mainmast

Origin

From Middle English main stai, equivalent to main + stay (“rope”).

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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.