main office
12
1.5
- noun
:
oficina principal
- Will Coach Stevens please report to the main office?
- the main office of each school
Examples
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Having finished their talk, Jillian and Amy went to the main office to settle their account.
Fiction book (1999) -
I've already cleared it with the main office.
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All visitors must check out at the main office.
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Those of you who would like to see the show, tickets will be on sale in the main office starting Thursday.
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A few seconds later, he pulled up in front of the main office building.
Fiction book (2001) -
Rather, get hard data from your school secretary or your district's main office.
Academic text (1998) -
I'm going downtown to the main office tomorrow.
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Garrett wants you over at the main office in the morning instead of coming over here.
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Just meet Officer Blue in the main office when you're done talking.
Fiction book (1999) -
All visitors must check out at the main office.
Synonyms
407
3.0
The main office where a company or group makes important decisions
20
3.0
A main office where a company's leaders work and make decisions
14
3.4
The main office where a company or group does its work
7
3.5
Main office where leaders of a company or organization work and make decisions
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the office that serves as the administrative center' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'main' (primary, chief) with 'office' (a place of work), following a standard adjective + noun composition. This pattern is cross-linguistically common and highly predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Main office comes from a simple image: the main, meaning 'most important', office, the place where leaders work and make decisions. So it means the 'administrative center' or 'headquarters' of an organization.