Mine vs Main - What's the difference?
mine | main |
My; belonging to me; that which belongs to me.
#
#
#
# (archaic)
#* (William Shakespeare), , Act V, Scene 1:
# (archaic)
#* 1862 February, , "(The Battle Hymn of the Republic)", in The Atlantic Monthly , Volume IX, Number LII, page 10,
An excavation from which ore or solid minerals are taken, especially one consisting of underground tunnels.
(military) A passage dug toward or underneath enemy lines, which is then packed with explosives.
(military) A device intended to explode when stepped upon or touched, or when approached by a ship, vehicle, or person.
(pyrotechnics) A type of firework that explodes on the ground, shooting sparks upward.
(entomology) The cavity made by a caterpillar while feeding inside a leaf.
(ambitransitive) To remove (ore) from the ground.
To dig into, for ore or metal.
* Ure
To sow mines (the explosive devices) in (an area).
To damage (a vehicle or ship) with a mine (an explosive device).
To dig a tunnel or hole; to burrow in the earth.
To dig away, or otherwise remove, the substratum or foundation of; to lay a mine under; to sap; to undermine; hence, to ruin or destroy by slow degrees or secret means.
* Hayward
* Sir Walter Scott
(label) Great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.
* (Samuel Daniel) (1562-1619)
Principal; prime; chief; leading; of chief or principal importance.
* (John Tillotson) (1630-1694)
* , chapter=7
, title= *{{quote-book, year=1935, author=
, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=5
, passage=By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.}}
Principal or chief in size or extent; largest; consisting of the largest part; most important by reason or size or strength.
* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Full; undivided; sheer (of strength, force etc.).
* 1817 , (Walter Scott), , XII:
(label) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
(label) Big; angry.
Very; very much; greatly; mightily; extremely; exceedingly.
* 1799 , Samuel Foote, The works of Samuel Foote :
* 1840 , Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Leigh Hunt, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The dramatic works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan :
* Spenser
That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the gross; the bulk; the greater part.
* Francis Bacon
* 1858 , Humphrey Prideaux, James Talboys Wheeler, An historical connection of the Old and New Testaments :
* Francis Bacon
* 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, page 90:
* 1624 , John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, and severall steps in my Sicknes (Meditation XVII):
* 1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
* Dryden
A large pipe or cable providing utility service to a building or area, such as water main or electric main.
(label) The mainsail.
A hand or match in a game of dice.
A stake played for at dice.
* Shakespeare, The First Park of King Henry IV
The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard.
A match at cockfighting.
* Thackeray
A main-hamper, or fruit basket.
As nouns the difference between mine and main
is that mine is an excavation from which ore or solid minerals are taken, especially one consisting of underground tunnels while main is strength; power; force; violent effort.As a pronoun mine
is my; belonging to me; that which belongs to me.As a verb mine
is to remove (ore) from the ground.As an adjective main is
great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.As an adverb main is
very; very much; greatly; mightily; extremely; exceedingly.As a proper noun Main is
a river in southern Germany, flowing from Bavaria to the Rhine.mine
English
Etymology 1
(etyl) .Pronoun
- Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: /
Usage notes
* . * Historically, (term) came to be used only before a consonant sound, and later came to be used regardless of the following sound. Nonetheless, (term) still sees archaic pre-vocalic use, as may be seen in the 1862 quotation above.See also
(English personal pronouns)Etymology 2
From (etyl), from (etyl) (m), from .Noun
(en noun) view of an anti-tank landmine- This diamond comes from a mine in South Africa.
- He came out of the coal mine with a face covered in black.
- Most coal and ore comes from open-pit mines nowadays.
- His left leg was blown off after he stepped on a mine .
- The warship was destroyed by floating mines .
Derived terms
* anti-personnel mine * anti-tank mine * coal mine * gold mine, goldmine * land mine, landmine * limpet mine * magnetic mine * minefield * minelayer * mine of information * miner * mineral * mine run * mine shaft, mineshaft * minesweeper * mineworker * naval mine * open-pit mine * proximity mine * proxy mine * salt mine * strip-mine, strip mineVerb
(min)- Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only place in the world where visitors can mine their own diamonds.
- Lead veins have been traced but they have not been mined .
- We had to slow our advance after the enemy mined the road ahead of us.
- the mining cony
- They mined the walls.
- Too lazy to cut down these immense trees, the spoilers had mined them, and placed a quantity of gunpowder in the cavity.
Derived terms
* miner * miningEtymology 3
.Statistics
*Anagrams
* ----main
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), partly from (etyl) . More at (may).Adjective
(-)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.}}
George Goodchild
Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.
Derived terms
* main drag * main roadAdverb
(en adverb)Etymology 2
From (etyl) , later also taking senses from the adjective.Noun
(en noun)Quotations
* (English Citations of "main")Derived terms
{{der3, (large pipe or cable) gas main, mains (qualifier), water main , in the main , main brace , main drag , maincrop , mainframe , mainland , mainline, main line , mainmast , mainplane , mainsail , mainsheet , mainspring , mainstreet, main street , maintop , maintopmast}}Etymology 3
; compare (manual).Noun
(en noun)- (Prior)
- (Thackeray)
- (Ainsworth)