main
adjective · verb · noun
Simple meaning
Of chief or leading importance.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
maynIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmeɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.
Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.
verb
transitiveslang
To inject (a drug) directly into a vein.
noun
A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main.
Any very large body of (salt) water
A river in southern Germany, flowing from Bavaria to the Rhine.
The generic street name (and often the official name) of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in the United States, Canada, Ireland, some parts of Scotland and also in some countries in central Europe.
A banker's shovel for coins.
informal
The main serving or dish of a meal, usually cooked.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.
Used this way, main is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use main
- “The main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The topmast next above the mainmast.
Street that serves as a principal thoroughfare for traffic in a town.
Rotor consisting of large rotating airfoils on a single-rotor helicopter that produce the lift to support the helicopter in the air.
A major road for any form of motor transport.
The office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise.
The principal route of a transportation system.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The main land mass of a country or continent.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: of chief or leading importance
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “main” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.