IN THE MAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does in the main mean? 

• IN THE MAIN (adverb)
  The adverb IN THE MAIN has 2 senses:

1. for the most part

2. without distinction of one from others

  Familiarity information: IN THE MAIN used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IN THE MAIN (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

For the most part

Synonyms:

chiefly; in the main; mainly; primarily; principally

Context example:

he is mainly interested in butterflies

Sense 2

Meaning:

Without distinction of one from others

Synonyms:

generally; in general; in the main

Context example:

he is interested in snakes in general

 Context examples 

In the main, so efficient a fighter had he become, he went his way unscathed.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The sailors, in the main, were English and Scandinavian, and their faces seemed of the heavy, stolid order.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Once I put my weight upon a rotten branch and swung for a few seconds by my hands, but in the main it was all easy climbing.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The effect of our inquiries at Woolwich has in the main been against young Cadogan West; but the indications at the window would lend themselves to a more favourable hypothesis.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Grants showing a disposition to be friendly and sociable, gave great satisfaction in the main among their new acquaintance.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Ceres, with an average diameter of about 590 miles (950 kilometers), is the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

(Dawn Glimpses Ceres' North Pole, NASA)

NASA's Dawn mission has found evidence for organic material on Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

(Dawn Discovers Evidence for Organic Material on Ceres, NASA)

You are to leave the keys on coming away in the main hall of the house, where the proprietor may get them on his entering the house by means of his duplicate key.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Here and there Buck met Southland dogs, but in the main they were the wild wolf husky breed.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It might be related to large collisions taking place more than 300 million years ago in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the researchers noted.

(Moon Data Sheds Light on Earth’s Asteroid Impact History, NASA)