main
most important element
How often you will meet it
Rank 1,558 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 11,762 times across 155,370 chapters — 0.006% of every word in the library.
What it means
adjective
- most important element also: chief, primary, principal, master the chief aim of livingthe main doors were of solid glass
- (of a clause) capable of standing syntactically alone as a complete sentence also: independent the main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb
- of force; of the greatest possible intensity by main strength
noun
- any very large body of (salt) water also: briny
- a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage
main in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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They followed him down the main stairway.
Actions and reactions · Rudyard Kipling · Chapter 1
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There were no strong-minded women on the Spanish main.
Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 08, May 21, 1870 · Various · Chapter 1
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Let him once get to the main road and he would find a way to escape.
Following the Equator — Part 1 · Mark Twain · Chapter 1
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Twined we were, entwined, then riven, Ever to new embracements driven, Shifting gulf-weed of the main!
John Marr and Other Poems · Herman Melville · Chapter 1
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He went along the corridor and into the main hall where Katherine had met Silas Blackburn last night.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1