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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

Etymology

Origin of main street

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

main street Main Street

At their home, a large one-story villa off a dirt road leading to the town’s main street, Scott introduces me to a lifestyle designed to promote wellness.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026

The mural would be Bolding’s first public piece of art on a main street.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026

Locals, some with dogs in tow, marched down Telluride’s main street chanting, “End it now!”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

Andresen, riding for Decathlon CMA CGM, surged to the front in the main street of Tanunda, near Adelaide.

From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 2026

I was halfway down a main street, walking along the same stretch of sidewalk I followed home every day, but I’d been lost in my head; I hadn’t been paying attention to the road.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi

As a result, the market could be missing Main Street lenders’ potential to keep up with their glitzier peers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

On a drizzly morning in June, all was still on Tuskegee's South Main Street, a two-lane road that runs into the heart of the town square, where a towering Confederate monument loomed over the emptiness.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

But Main Street might be turning to Netflix’s rivals.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

He grew up, though, in Central, on West Main Street, the small town’s main drag.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

There were “Happy Birthday Malia!” signs taped inside the windows of storefronts along Main Street.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama