main - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education
Reference
Dictionary
Encyclopedia
Thesaurus
World Factbook
Spanish Dictionary
Anatomy
Conversion Calculator
 
main  audio  (mn) KEY 

ADJECTIVE:
  1. Most important; principal. See Synonyms at chief.
  2. Exerted to the utmost; sheer: by main strength.
  3. Nautical Connected to or located near the mainmast: a main skysail.
  4. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the principal clause or verb of a complex sentence.
  5. Obsolete Of or relating to a continuous area or stretch, as of land or water.
NOUN:
  1. The chief or largest part: His ideas are, in the main, impractical.
  2. The principal pipe or conduit in a system for conveying water, gas, oil, or other utility.
  3. Physical strength: fought with might and main.
  4. A mainland.
  5. The open ocean.
  6. Nautical
    1. A mainsail.
    2. A mainmast.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English męgen, strength; see magh- in Indo-European roots


 Visit our partner's site
Provided by Houghton Mifflin
logoeReference -- Download this interactive reference software to your desktop computer