main course
Americannoun
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main courses
plural
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Nautical. a square mainsail.
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the principal dish or course of a meal, typically including meat or fish.
noun
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the principal dish of a meal
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nautical a square mainsail
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of main course
First recorded in 1505–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
ADP is an appetizer of sorts ahead of the main course for markets: the official U.S. employment report on Friday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
During dinner, each guest is given a traditional koha, meaning gift or offering, between the starter and main course.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
Williams, whose main course options include Porth Eirias dressed crab and Welsh lamb, said he would never exile the scone.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The appetizers, especially the charred grapes with mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinegar cream, were better than the main course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
The main course was essence of brandied pig, and you need a lot of it to serve five hundred people.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
