Library / English Dictionary

IN THE MAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Without distinction of one from others

Example:

he is interested in snakes in general

Synonyms:

generally; in general; in the main

Classified under:

Adverbs

Sense 2

Meaning:

For the most part

Example:

he is mainly interested in butterflies

Synonyms:

chiefly; in the main; mainly; primarily; principally

Classified under:

Adverbs

Credits

 Context examples: 

At first glance, Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, may not look icy.

(Where is the Ice on Ceres?, NASA)

The bond geometry of the molecule induces a kink in the main axis of the aliphatic chain at the n-6 position.

(Octadecadienoic Acid n-6 trans, NCI Thesaurus)

Here and there the pale, aquiline features of a sporting Corinthian recalled rather the Norman type, but in the main these stolid, heavy-jowled faces, belonging to men whose whole life was a battle, were the nearest suggestion which we have had in modern times of those fierce pirates and rovers from whose loins we have sprung.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As an object in the main asteroid belt, Hygiea satisfies right away three of the four requirements to be classified as a dwarf planet: it orbits around the Sun, it is not a moon and, unlike a planet, it has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(ESO Telescope Reveals What Could be the Smallest Dwarf Planet Yet in the Solar System, ESO)

With the exception of Ceres, which resides in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, all members of this class of minor planets in our solar system lurk in the depths beyond Neptune.

(2007 OR10: Largest Unnamed World in the Solar System, NASA)

Anxious to separate herself from them as far as she could, she soon afterwards took possession of a narrow footpath, a little raised on one side of the lane, leaving them together in the main road.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Or rather, I suppose the truth was this, that all hands were disaffected by the example of the ringleaders—only some more, some less; and a few, being good fellows in the main, could neither be led nor driven any further.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Well, it is all in the main line of my business.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Occasionally it came up too close, or fell off too freely; but it always recovered itself and in the main behaved satisfactorily.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We kept on ascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main always ascending.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)