IN THE MAIN • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of In the main

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/ɪn ðə meɪn/ Listen

noun

Main n.

1.

Strength; force; might; violent effort. (Obs., except in certain phrases.) "There were in this battle of most might and main." "He 'gan advance, With huge force, and with importable main."

2.

The chief or principal part; the main or most important thing. (Obs., except in special uses.) "Resolved to rest upon the title of Lancaster as the main, and to use the other two... but as supporters."

3.

Specifically:

(a)

The great sea, as distinguished from an arm, bay, etc.; the high sea; the ocean. "Struggling in the main."

(b)

The continent, as distinguished from an island; the mainland. "Invaded the main of Spain."

(c)

Principal duct or pipe, as distinguished from lesser ones; esp. (Engin.), a principal pipe leading to or from a reservoir; as, a fire main.

Forcing main, the delivery pipe of a pump.

For the main, or In the main, for the most part; in the greatest part.

With might and main, or With all one's might and main, with all one's strength; with violent effort. "With might and main they chased the murderous fox."

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Etymology of 'In the main'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"In the main" Quotes from Famous Books

... to consider are among the most interesting in all the period of development, and among the most exacting, as well, in the problems they present. These problems are related, in the main, to the "new invoice of energy" which has come into the life, the social feelings, habit formation and hero worship, and knowledge and patience are ...

— The Unfolding Life • Antoinette Abernethy Lamoreaux

... the British Government and Lord Kitchener with inhumanity in the conduct of the war, Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman and other friends of the Boer cause relied in the main upon the circumstance that a certain proportion of the Boer population was removed compulsorily from districts which the British troops were unable to occupy effectively, and upon the further fact that the Burgher Camps exhibited an unusually ...

— Lord Milner's Work in South Africa - From its Commencement in 1897 to the Peace of Vereeniging in 1902 • W. Basil Worsfold

... be purchased by the Messiah, and snatch'd out of his (Satan's) Hands, and over whom he could make no final Conquest; so that his Power met with a new Limitation, and that such, as indeed fully disappointed him in the main thing he aim'd at, (viz.) preventing the Beatitudes of Mankind, which were thus secur'd; (And what if the Numbers of Mankind were upon this account encreased in such a manner, that the selected Number should, ...

— The History of the Devil - As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts • Daniel Defoe

... In the main their story was true. If Ellerey had mentioned the Queen as their employer they had considered the King and Queen as one, and no question was put to them to make them ...

— Princess Maritza • Percy Brebner

... tool-holder. The tool-holder consists of four parts: (1) a strip C, 1-1/2" thick, and as wide as the widest plane-bit to be ground. The forward end is beveled on one side; the back end is rounded to fit the holes in the main board A. Its length is determined by the distance from the edge of the tool being ground to the most convenient hole in A, into which the rear end is to be inserted. It is better to use as high a hole as convenient, so that as the grindstone wears down, the stick will still be serviceable; ...

— Handwork in Wood • William Noyes

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