Etimology
From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin, meyn, from main (noun) (see further at etymology 2); compare Old English mægen- (“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.
adjective
main (not comparable)
Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal. [from 15th c.]
Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.
(archaic, of force, strength, etc.) Full, sheer, undivided. [from 16th c.]
(dialectal) Big; angry.
(nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
(obsolete) Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.
Examples
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 intereſt is to be as happy as we can, and as long as is poſſible; and if we be caſt into ſuch circumſtances, that we muſt be either in part and for a time or elſe wholly and always miſerable, the beſt wiſdom is to chuſe the greateſt and moſt laſting happiness, but the leaſt and ſhorteſt miſery.
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 parish in the East End of London.
By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
Synonym: largest
main timbers
main branch of a river
main body of an army
Not uninvented that, which thou aright / Beleivſt ſo main to our ſucceſs, I bring; […]
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. […] It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.
[…] 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.
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 plate and mail, or grappling with the men-at-arms, strove to pull them from their horses by main force, or beat them down with their bills and Welch hooks.
And now that Current with main Fury ran / / Unto the full of Miſchief, that began / T' an univerſal Ruin to extend; […]
adverb
main (comparative more main, superlative most main)
(British, dialectal) Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.
Examples
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 […]
verb
main (third-person singular simple present mains, present participle maining, simple past and past participle mained)
(transitive, slang) Short for mainline (“to inject (a drug) directly into a vein”).
(transitive, gaming) To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game.
(obsolete) To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.
Examples
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.
Now, full disclosure: I too main Soldier 76 in "Overwatch" .
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 otherwise, it may apply to the county council for an order "maining" the road under s. 15 of the Highways and Locomotives Act, 1878 , as amended by s. 3 of the Local Government Act, 1888 , and the county council may make an order accordingly.
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.
Etimology
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.
noun
main (plural mains)
That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.
A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main. [from 17th c.]
(informal) Short for main course (“the principal dish of a meal”).
(now poetic) The high seas. [from 16th c.]
(now archaic, US dialectal) The mainland. [from 16th c.]
(nautical) Short for mainsail. [from 17th c.]
(obsolete, except in might and main) Force, power, strength, violent effort. [from 9th c.]
Examples
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 thought it chiefly concerned him to ſuppreſs the Rebellion of Alexander and Molon in the East; and therefore adviſed him to march immediately in perſon with the main of his Army for the ſubduing of thoſe Rebels, before they ſhould gather greater ſtrength in the revolted Provinces againſt him.
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, but as supporters, the one to appease secret discontents, and the other to beat down open murmur and dispute; […]
Antonym: alt
My WoW main has reached level cap and I’m on my way getting my first alt there as well.
[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 in Dame-ſtreet; was obliged to take up three or four Pieces in Length, in conſequence of a Sewer being made there, which undermined the Main, and put it out of its Place; […]
[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.
I had scampi and chips for my main and a slice of cheesecake for dessert.
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.
My love, and native land, fareweel! / For I maun cross the main...
The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good part; / But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother of the careful soul and the troubled heart, / […] / It is their care that the wheels run truly; it is their care to embark and entrain, / Tally, transport, and deliver duly the Sons of Mary by land and main.
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 of Portugal, yet a man ſhall hardly meet with an action that doth better reveal the great ſecret of the power of Spain: […]
No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every 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.
Tashtego's long, lean, sable hair, his high cheek bones, and black rounding eyes— […] all this sufficiently proclaimed him an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud warrior hunters, who, in quest of the great New England moose, had scoured, bow in hand, the aboriginal forests of the main.
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.
Etimology
Uncertain; probably from the adjective main. Evidence is lacking for a derivation from French main (“hand”).
noun
main (plural mains)
(obsolete, gaming) A hand or match in a game of dice.
(obsolete, gaming) 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.
(obsolete, gaming) A stake played for at dice.
(obsolete, gaming, sports) A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.
A banker's shovel for coins.
Examples
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; […]
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 intervals of racing, a main could be 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.
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 for three mains, and came away cleared out, leaving that infernal cheque behind me.
[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?Is it good / To bet all of our wealth / On one throw of the dice? To place so high a stake / On the risky hazard of one doubtful hour?
Is it good / To bet all of our wealth / On one throw of the dice? To place so high a stake / On the risky hazard of one doubtful hour?
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; […]
Etimology
Uncertain, possibly from French main (“hand”).
noun
main (plural mains)
(obsolete, rare) A basket for gathering grapes.
Examples
A main [hamper] Corbis vindemiatorius]