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• main street
  main street

  noun

  the principal thoroughfare, especially through the business district, in a small town.
• Main Street
  Main Street

  noun

  a novel (1920) by Sinclair Lewis.

main street

¹ American  

noun

• main streets
  plural

1. the principal thoroughfare, especially through the business district, in a small town.

2. (initial capital letters) the outlook, environment, or life of a small town.

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Main Street ² American  

noun

1. a novel (1920) by Sinclair Lewis.

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Main Street British  

noun

1. the most prominent street of a town, usually where the principal shops and businesses are situated

2. ordinary people in general

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• main streets
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of main street

First recorded in 1735–45

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

main street Main Street

On Monday evening, a midnight release event was held in The Secret Bookshelf, an independent bookshop just off the town's main street.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

Wangaratta's main street, where Haines's office is located, had reopened to traffic.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Standing on Walton’s main street near a fried chicken shop, Morgan Price, 22, is one of a million young Brits who aren’t in school, don’t have a job and aren’t training for one.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Police patrolled Doonbeg's main street this week as preparations intensified for what security sources have described as one of the most complex security operations ever mounted in Ireland.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

The wizard had collapsed, heaving, onto all fours, still trying to crawl toward the main street.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Further down Main Street, Claire Austin runs Silverland with Passion, her family jewellery business.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

But even on Main Street, regional banks’ core lending to manufacturing and construction firms is also picking up along with AI capital expenditures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

On markets: There’s a growing disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street, with the state of the economy having less impact on stocks.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

The Great Redwood Trail would follow the railroad tracks that parallel Loleta’s small Main Street, passing between a public park and a string of local shops, a post office, and a church.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

I tried to think of something to say, but the moment passed as our streetcar drew up to our stop on Main Street.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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