Word.ws English Dictionary

mainline

/ˈmeɪnˌlaɪn/

mainline adjective: normal, principal or standard. Also the alternative form of main line.

Adjective

mainline (not comparable)

  1. Normal, principal or standard.
    Synonyms:
    mainstream
  2. (US) Not fundamentalist, charismatic or evangelical.
    • At a time when mainline denominations are engaged in massive closures of small rural churches, independent charismatics are strategically helping to rechurch rural Canada.2010, Steven M. Studebaker, Pentecostalism and Globalization
    • This doesn’t necessarily mean Christians are joining mainline congregations — the survey measures self-identification, not church affiliation. It is, nevertheless, a striking turnabout after years when mainline Protestantism was considered moribund and evangelical Christianity full of dynamism.2021 July 9, Michelle Goldberg, “The Christian Right Is in Decline, and It’s Taking America With It”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  3. Of or pertaining to the principal route or line of a railway.
  4. Of or pertaining to a surface-level heavy rail system as distinct from an underground, elevated or light rail one.
  5. Of or pertaining to national or long-distance rail network operators as opposed to urban and suburban operators.
    • Merseyrail and mainline services affected by downpour with more heavy rain forecast2019 June 12, Ben Turner, “Liverpool weather forecast: Trains hit by flooding as rain set to batter Merseyside”, in Liverpool Echo
    • Well-publicised flexible ticketing options are needed for both visitors and workers, integrated across the entire journey: from outside the capital all the way into central London, considering both TfL and mainline rail services.2021, Heart of London Business Alliance, “Written Evidence in "Supporting our high streets after COVID-19"”, in UK Parliament
  6. Pertaining to a direct route between two major ports.
    Antonyms:
    feeder
  7. Of a sequence of opening moves: being part of a main line ("a standard sequence of opening moves considered to be best play").
    • After 3 e5 the Czech Benoni Defense is created. Unlike the mainline 3 e6, which aims for tactical counterplay in the center, Black aims for solidity there. He will choose later what flank to attack on.2006 May 7, Robert Byrne, “For Most Players, Speed Chess Is Like a Keystone Kops Melee”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2023
    • Short's pragmatic approach to the match was to avoid mainline theory and the teenager's computer preparation.2010 May 21, Leonard Barden, “Nigel Short shows benefit of experience during series with Anish Giri”, in The Guardian

Verb

mainline (third-person singular simple present mainlines, present participle mainlining, simple past and past participle mainlined)

  1. (slang) To inject (a drug) directly into a vein.
    • The patient skinpopped for 1½ years and then started to mainline heroin.1968, Richard Brotman, Alfred M. Freedman, A Community Mental Health Approach to Drug Addiction, page 97
    Synonyms:
    main
  2. (broadly, informal, transitive) To consume voraciously.
    • Last month, she lamented that her busy campaign schedule had kept her from mainlining Amazon’s new “Rings of Power” series.2022 September 21, Jason Horowitz, “Hobbits and the Hard Right: How Fantasy Inspires Italy’s Potential New Leader”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  3. (transitive) To integrate (code, etc.) into the main repository for a software project, rather than separate forks.
  4. (transitive) To include (a prisoner) in the general population of a prison.

Noun

mainline (plural mainlines)

  1. An airline's main operating unit, as opposed to codeshares or regional subsidiaries.
  2. The principal route or line of a railway.
  3. In longline fishing the central line to which the branch lines with baits are attached.
  4. The pipeline carrying wastewater to the public drains or a septic tank.
    • Many plumbers will tell you they don't go off property since that is the local water company's responsibility. Most local water companies would prefer that, if a line is snaked, it is snaked all the way to the mainline connection.2007, Melvin Ladon White, Property Owner's Sewer and Drain Guide, page 31
    • In addition, opportunities exist for the introduction of these organisms into a system by means of broken or corroded piping, repair of existing mainlines, installation of new mains, back siphonage, and cross-connections, any of which may result in contamination of the water supply.2013, Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, page 80
  5. (slang) A principal vein into which a drug can be injected.
    • I'm searching for my mainline / I said I couldn't hit it sideways1968, “Sister Ray”, in Lou Reed (lyrics), White Light/White Heat, performed by The Velvet Underground
  6. The main repository for a software project, from which different versions (forks) may be split off.
  7. The general population of a prison.
    Synonyms:
    genpop

Also used as

mainline is also the alternative form of main line.

mainline meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam

mainline in Hindi

मेनलाइन

mainline in Bengali

মেইনলাইন

mainline in Telugu

మెయిన్లైన్

mainline in Malayalam

മെയിൻലൈൻ
More languagesFewer languages
mainline in Kannada
ಮೈನ್ಲೈನ್
mainline in Nepali
मेनलाइन

Examples of mainline in a sentence

  • Listens to Creed on maximum volume while mainlining Monster energy drinks.
  • Multistring gas pipeline systems appeared at this stage of gas mainline construction in connections with the increase in gas flows.
  • Several roads are well along on programs of CTCing their mainlines: AT&SF, C&O, CNR, NYC, NP, SP and UP.

All 18 example sentences with mainline

Synonyms of mainline

Antonyms

Forms of mainline

Adjective
alternative formmain-line
Verb
third-person singular presentmainlines
present participlemainlining
past participlemainlined
pastmainlined
Noun
pluralmainlines
alternative formmain line

Origin of mainline

From main + line.

Words formed from mainline

Questions about mainline

What does mainline mean?
Mainline means normal, principal or standard.
What is mainline in Hindi?
Mainline in Hindi is मेनलाइन. See Mainline meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is mainline?
Mainline can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce mainline?
Mainline is pronounced /ˈmeɪnˌlaɪn/.

Words near mainline in the dictionary

  1. mainlanders
  2. mainlandization
  3. mainlands
  4. mainlane
  5. mainlanes
  6. mainline
  7. mainlined
  8. mainliner
  9. mainliners
  10. mainlines
  11. Mainling

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mainline (page history and authors); mainline (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainline (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainline (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainline (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainline (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainline (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mainline.wav, En-au-main line.ogg.

Cite this entry: “mainline.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mainline. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.