main chance


noun
  1. an opportunity offering the greatest gain: Being ambitious, he always had an eye for the main chance.

Origin of main chance

1
First recorded in 1570–80

Words Nearby main chance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use main chance in a sentence

  • The owner gratifies his taste or his pride by reserving it from cultivation, but he does not forget the main chance.

    Glances at Europe | Horace Greeley
  • The main chance with her seemed to lie in the likelihood that she would find a mother (or a father) in Aunt Maria.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • The big people, the men who run things, they had no such illusions; they had their eye on the main chance all the time.

    The Hidden Places | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • I agree with you, but we should probably differ about what constitutes the main chance.

    Evenings at Donaldson Manor | Maria J. McIntosh
  • His ethics are of the Poor Richard school, and the main chance which calls forth all his energy is altogether of the belly.