Main Street
74
2.3
- noun
- /meɪn striːt/
- US
:
calle principal
- The cute shops along Main Street attract many tourists looking for unique souvenirs.
- blocks from Main Street
We don't think of Main Street, California or the mall in the same way.
- We don't think of Main Street, California or the mall in the same way.
- We'll be right back on Main Street.
- So you bought that little tiny condo over the pizzeria on Main Street and now you find out you're pregnant.
- Like the Main Street you grew up on in the small town like that is what is right outside of Lambeau Field.
Examples
-
Can I have a police officer at 364 Main Street.
-
Like just walk down the Main Street of wherever you live and pop into a store you have never been in before.
-
I need you to set a course for Main Street.
-
Then one day last week, as I was walking up Main Street to school, I saw my shoes again.
Fiction book (1996) -
Because, well, I live on a very, I live on Main Street and I see everything and everyone passes through Main Street.
-
I'm at the bank on Main Street.
-
Jesse let the car slide forward, turned, and went down Main Street toward the water.
Fiction book (1999) -
A sign stretched across Main Street in front of The Highland Hotel: WELCOME HOME OUR HEROES.
Fiction book (1999) -
Aunt La Verne lived on Main Street, above a dry goods store.
Fiction book (1994) -
Guthrie took them out to eat lunch at the Holt Cafe on Main Street, though they weren't very hungry.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
8
3.3
The main street in a town where most shops and banks are
7
5.1
A street in a town where most shops and restaurants are
How Busy
629
1.0
- US
74
2.3
35
1.1
- Specialized
1
1.5
21
4.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal composition 'main' + 'street' (the principal road) is transparent, so learners will grasp the concrete meaning easily. However, the MWE’s extended metonymic sense referring to the typical people/character of small‑town America is culturally specific and not fully predictable from the parts, though similar constructions exist in many languages, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Main Street comes from a town's central road where most shops, restaurants, and businesses stood, the main street everyone used. That's why it means the principal street of a town.