main

Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.not-comparable

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

Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.not-comparable

• main timbers
• main branch of a river

Full, sheer, undivided.archaicnot-comparableusually

• […] 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.

Big; angry.dialectalnot-comparable

Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.not-comparable

Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.not-comparableobsolete

• 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; […]

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

• 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.

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

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

• He mains the same character as me in that game.
• What race do you main and what is your favourite race to beat?

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

• 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.

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 thought it chiefly concer
• 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, th

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

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

• His main got banned after his last post.

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.

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

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

The high seas.poetic

• 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: […]

The mainland.USarchaicdialectal

• 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.

Ellipsis of mainsail.abbreviationalt-ofellipsis

Force, power, strength, violent effort.obsolete

• 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.

A hand or match in a game of dice.obsolete

• 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 intervals of racing, a main

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

• 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.

A stake played for at dice.obsolete

• [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?

A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.obsolete

• 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; […]

A banker's shovel for coins.

A basket for gathering grapes.obsoleterare

• A main [hamper] Corbis vindemiatorius