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Mainstay   /mˈeɪnstˌeɪ/   Listen
Mainstay

noun
1.
A prominent supporter.  Synonym: pillar.
2.
A central cohesive source of support and stability.  Synonyms: anchor, backbone, keystone, linchpin, lynchpin.  "The keystone of campaign reform was the ban on soft money" , "He is the linchpin of this firm"
3.
The forestay that braces the mainmast.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Mainstay" Quotes from Famous Books



... generally directing the course of events. In an open shamianah,[4] eight or ten men divided their attention between a table at the back of the tent and the four ladies of the station, who perforce converted military events into those friendly gatherings which are the mainstay of Anglo-Indian life. Native onlookers, of all races and ranks, formed a mosaic border to the central theme; and a jumble of rollicking Irish airs from the Sikh band set Honor's foot tapping ...
— Captain Desmond, V.C. • Maud Diver

... Girard invested largely in the shares of the old Bank of the United States, and in 1812, purchased its building and succeeded to much of its business. He was the financial mainstay of the government during the second war with England—in fact, it was he who made the financing of the war possible. And yet he was, to all outward appearances, a singularly repulsive and hard-fisted old miser. In early youth, an unfortunate accident had caused the loss of one eye, and his other ...
— American Men of Mind • Burton E. Stevenson

... as Elsa started to speak. "That isn't all. The flapping canvas, with part of the gaff, pounded around like the devil let loose for the ten seconds before we couldn't loosen the halyards and lower away the wreckage, but in that time it had parted the mainstay in two like a woman ...
— The Harbor of Doubt • Frank Williams

... Tourism, the mainstay of Andorra's economy, accounts for roughly 80% of GDP. An estimated 13 million tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and by its summer and winter resorts. The banking sector, with its "tax haven" status, also contributes ...
— The 1995 CIA World Factbook • United States Central Intelligence Agency

... more comfortably. We had buffalo robes and bearskins of our own killing. We always kept the house clean—using the word in a rather large sense. There were at least two rooms that were always warm, even in the bitterest weather; and we had plenty to eat. Commonly the mainstay of every meal was game of our own killing, usually antelope or deer, sometimes grouse or ducks, and occasionally, in the earlier days, buffalo or elk. We also had flour and bacon, sugar, salt, and ...
— Theodore Roosevelt - An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt • Theodore Roosevelt


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