- chief, main, primary, principal - most important element; "the chief aim of living"; "the main doors were of solid glass"; "the principal rivers of America"; "the principal example"; "policemen were primary targets"
Antonym: unimportant (indirect, via important)
- independent, main - of a clause; able to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence; "the main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb"
- main - of force; of the greatest possible intensity; "by main strength"
Antonym: mild (indirect, via intense)
- main, briny - any very large body of (salt) water
--1 is a kind of body of water, water
--1 is a part of hydrosphere
--1 has parts: high sea, international waters; offing; territorial waters - main - a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage
--2 is a kind of pipe, pipage, piping
--2 is a part of infrastructure, base
--2 has particulars:electric main; gas main; sewer main, sewer line; water main