- [countable] a large pipe that carries water or gas to a building; a large cable that carries electricity to a building
- a leaking gas main
- The main serves four towns.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- gas
- water
- broken
- …
- lay
- replace
- repair
- …
- serve something
- a large pipe that carries waste water and sewage (= human waste, etc.) away from a buildingTopics Houses and homesc2Oxford Collocations Dictionarymains + noun
- electricity
- gas
- water
- …
- at the mains
- on the mains
- connected to the mains
- the mains[uncountable, plural] (British English) the place where the supply of water, gas or electricity to a building or an area starts; the system of providing gas, water and electricity to a building or of carrying it away from a building
- The house is not yet connected to the mains.
- at the mains The electricity supply has been cut off at the mains.
- Plug the transformer into the mains (= the place on a wall where electricity is brought into a room).
- mains gas/water/electricity
- The shaver will run off batteries or mains.
- mains drainage
Extra Examples- Some of the remoter houses in the town are not on the mains.
- Turn the water off at the mains.
- an island without mains electricity
Oxford Collocations Dictionarymains + noun- electricity
- gas
- water
- …
- at the mains
- on the mains
- connected to the mains
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old English mægen ‘physical force’, reinforced by Old Norse meginn, megn ‘strong, powerful’, both from a Germanic base meaning ‘have power’.
Idioms
See main in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee main in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishin the main
- used to say that a statement is true in most cases
- The service here is, in the main, reliable.
- In the main, the money raised goes to children’s charities.
Check pronunciation:
main