main course

American

noun

Nautical. a square mainsail.
the principal dish or course of a meal, typically including meat or fish.

main course British

noun

the principal dish of a meal
nautical a square mainsail

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

main courses

plural

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.

See Examples For:

main course

It was preamble, roadmap, consultation, perhaps the starter to the main course, which appears to be the PM's 10-year plan next month.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Nibble on an appetizer: The main course used to be the whole point of eating out at a restaurant.

From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026

In any case, the ADP report is an appetizer of sorts ahead of the main course for markets: the official U.S. employment report on Friday.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

I enjoyed it all but the main course.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

What delighted him— what he kept begging Park for—were stories about food and eating, particularly when the main course was grilled meat.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023