The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - mainadj.

1) chief, primary, prime, (most) important, principal, cardinal, paramount, first, foremost, leading, pre-eminent, predominant, predominating, dominant, ranking, major; outstanding: The main cause of traffic deaths is drunken driving. In Britain, the main street of a town is called 'the High Street'. We arrived late and missed the main entertainment. 2) largest, biggest, greatest, strongest: The main part of the strike force landed in Normandy. 3) necessary, essential, basic, particular, fundamental, critical, crucial, vital: Economic recovery is the main thrust of our programme for reform. 4) sheer, brute, utter, pure, out-and-out, absolute, mere, plain: He lifted that block by main force! --n. 5) pipe, duct, channel, line, pipeline, water or gas main, Brit (electric) cable, mains, power (supply) , conduit: Water reaches the city through a huge underground main. 6) strength, power, might, effort, energy, vigour: With all his might and main he tried to move the stone blocking the cave. 7) in the main. See mainly, below.