main road
35
1.1
- noun
- /meɪn roʊd/
:
carretera principal
- After driving for an hour, we finally reached the main road connecting the two towns.
- connect to the main road
- just off the main road
- lead to the main road
Maybe there's one main road, but there's two exits.
- Maybe there's one main road, but there's two exits.
- That's the main road in Mohenjodaro, right?
- He'd say why do the main roads not pass through the town, through the slums?
- Bethany and Robin are on main roads, so I wonder if hitchhiking's going any good.
- But instead of going to my bud's house via the main roads, we went through the hunting club roads.
- But once you finish the second stop, get off the main roads and then use lesser used roads.
- There's a, there's a water mains right outside your driveway on the main road.
- He would ask a question such as why does the main road run, not run, run, run to the slum that we're in?
- You know, you didn't have tanks coming down, coming down the main supply routes, in the main roads.
- And when things don't go well, it's like a detour from the main road as opposed to understanding that it's all the main Rd.
- My the main road is closed so I've had to go all round the houses.
- And the way that this village is located, there's like a main road that cuts, there's a village and then there's this kind of like large hill behind them.
- So her car was on like a main road in New Jersey, where there actually has been a lot of like, car thefts recently.
Examples
-
By then, he was walking out the main road toward the toll-road bridge.
Fiction book (1990) -
What were you doing up on Sawtooth instead of coming in on the main road?
-
We're never off the main roads.
-
If he goes for it, we run the other way, toward the main road.
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Go by the main road!
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Okay, I'll take the main road back toward the city.
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We can get to the main road through the woods.
-
Housing estates and strip commercial development have also developed along the main roads to the south of the city center.
Academic text (2017) -
We should've reached the main road by now.
-
Camp 6 is across the main road from the Yosemite Village road.
Academic text (1994)
Synonyms
629
1.0
A main road that connects big towns or cities for long trips
74
2.3
A town's main road where most shops, restaurants, and businesses are located
23
1.4
The main road in a town where most shops and businesses are
19
5.1
A main road that people use to travel between places
9
1.8
A wide road built for fast traffic with two or more lanes each way and few exits
7
5.1
A street in a town where most shops and restaurants are
3
4.4
A main road that carries a lot of traffic through a city
2
3.2
A main road that goes around a city to avoid the center
1
6.7
A main road that connects cities or towns
1
3.2
A major road that carries a lot of traffic and connects important parts of a city
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a major or principal road' is directly and compositionally derived from 'main' (primary, chief) + 'road' (constructed way for vehicles). This adjective+noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Main road combines main, meaning 'most important', and road, a path for travel, creating the image of the big street through a town that everyone uses. That's why main road means 'the principal route' used for traffic.