main line

¹

noun

1. a principal line or route of a railroad, as contrasted with a branch or secondary one.
2. a principal highway.
3. Slang.
   1. a prominent and readily accessible vein of the body that may be used for a narcotic's injection.
   2. the act of mainlining.

Main Line

²

noun

1. a fashionable residential district west of Philadelphia.
2. any fashionable district where socially prominent people live.

main line

noun

1. railways
   1. the trunk route between two points, usually fed by branch lines
   2. ( as modifier )

      a main-line station

2. a main road

verb

1. slang.
   intr to inject a drug into a vein

adjective

1. having an important position, esp having responsibility for the main areas of activity

Derived Forms

• ˈmainˌliner, noun

Other Words From

• Main-Line adjective
• Main-Liner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of main line¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

An Emmy-winning actress from Main Line Philadelphia, she had been with him nearly a year.

From The Daily Beast

And Pennsylvanians, at least those on the Main Line, sound like Romney kind of voters.

From The Daily Beast

When I was 13, my family moved to a house on the Main Line that was supposedly haunted.

From The Daily Beast

His main line of attack was that President Obama wants to turn America into Europe.

From The Daily Beast

Speaking at the scene, he underscored that the missing-persons reports had become the main line of inquiry.

From The Daily Beast

Ballinasloe station is on the main line to Galway, 34 miles distant from the “City of the Tribes.”

From Project Gutenberg

The Rebel skirmishers, concealed in the houses and behind fences, fire a volley and fall back to the main line.

From Project Gutenberg

The two divisions of the Second Corps swung out from the main line, faced southwest, and moved upon Stuart.

From Project Gutenberg

Far in advance of the main line lay that regiment, pouring a deadly fire upon the enemy.

From Project Gutenberg

The Thirteenth and Sixteenth swing out from the trench, turn a right angle to the main line, and face the north.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aristocracy
• celebrity
• establishment
• society