mainly

Adverb

mainly (not comparable)

1. Of a person or thing being the driving force influencing the outcome of an event; chiefly; certainly for the most part.
   • She had Lord James' collar in one big fist and she pounded the table with the other and talked a blue streak. Nobody could make out plain what she said, for she was mainly jabbering Swede lingo, but there was English enough, of a kind, to give us some idee.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
   • If you’re looking for the most breathable mask, Lukovics says, “Cotton is preferable, mainly for absorbing moisture/sweat.” She says multiple layers may be more protective but will also impact breathability.2021 August 17, Elizabeth Wallace and Kai Burkhardt, “12 breathable face masks to protect you while exercising”, in CNN

   Synonyms:

   in the main

2. (obsolete) Forcefully, vigorously.
   • Such breadth of ſhoulders as might mainely beare
     Olde Atlas burthen, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
   • Mainly they all attonce vpon him laid, / And sore beset on euery side around […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   energetically, powerfully, strongly

3. (obsolete) Of the production of a sound: loudly, powerfully.
   • But in the end, mainly crying out, he fell to raling and wringing his master, upbraiding him that he was not a true Philosopher[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 31, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   earsplittingly, lustily, raucously, thunderously

4. (obsolete) To a great degree; very much.

   Synonyms:

   a lot, extremely