What's the difference between main and vain?

Main


Definition:

  • (n.) A hand or match at dice.
  • (n.) A stake played for at dice.
  • (n.) The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard.
  • (n.) A match at cockfighting.
  • (n.) A main-hamper.
  • (v.) Strength; force; might; violent effort.
  • (v.) The chief or principal part; the main or most important thing.
  • (v.) The great sea, as distinguished from an arm, bay, etc. ; the high sea; the ocean.
  • (v.) The continent, as distinguished from an island; the mainland.
  • (v.) principal duct or pipe, as distinguished from lesser ones; esp. (Engin.), a principal pipe leading to or from a reservoir; as, a fire main.
  • (a.) Very or extremely strong.
  • (a.) Vast; huge.
  • (a.) Unqualified; absolute; entire; sheer.
  • (a.) Principal; chief; first in size, rank, importance, etc.
  • (a.) Important; necessary.
  • (a.) Very; extremely; as, main heavy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In conclusion, the efficacy of free tissue transfer in the treatment of osteomyelitis is geared mainly at enabling the surgeon to perform a wide radical debridement of infected and nonviable soft tissue and bone.
  • (2) Aggregation was more frequent in low-osmolal media: mainly rouleaux were formed in ioxaglate but irregular aggregates in non-ionic media.
  • (3) The main clinical features pertaining to the concept of the "psycho-organic syndrome" (POS) were investigated in a sample of children who suffered from severe craniocerebral trauma.
  • (4) Squadron Leader Kevin Harris, commander of the Merlins at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, praised the crews, adding: "The Merlins will undergo an extensive programme of maintenance and cleaning before being packed up, ensuring they return to the UK in good order."
  • (5) The main finding of this study is that diabetic adolescents with a high erythrocyte Na,Li countertransport rate have an arterial pressure significantly higher than patients with normal Na,Li countertransport fluxes.
  • (6) We also show that the gene of the main capsid protein is expressed from its own promoter in an Escherichia coli strain.
  • (7) In schizophrenic patients the density of dopamine uptake sites in the basal ganglia was slightly reduced, mainly in the middle third of putamen.
  • (8) One of the main users is coastal planning organizations and conservation organizations that are working on coral reefs.
  • (9) Immunofluorescence analysis of Pr-28 antigen showed that the antigen was localized mainly in perinuclear cytoplasm.
  • (10) The main result of the correspondence analysis is a geometric map of this relationship showing how the relative frequencies of headache types change with age.
  • (11) Myocardial ischaemia was induced in perfused rabbit hearts by ligating the left main coronary artery.
  • (12) Thus, human bronchial epithelial cells can express the IL-8 gene, with expression in response to the inflammatory mediator TNF regulated mainly at the transcriptional level, and with elements within the 5'-flanking region of the gene that are directly or indirectly modulated by the TNF signal.
  • (13) Statistically significant differences were found mainly in the randomized trial, where during the first and second years, respectively, adenoidectomy subjects had 47% and 37% less time with otitis media than control subjects and 28% and 35% fewer suppurative (acute) episodes than control subjects.
  • (14) One of the main components was confirmed to be caffeic acid which had inhibitory effect on renal failure in mice by Ac1-P.
  • (15) In four main regions the conservation varied from 83-91% while in the remaining regions the homology dropped to between 56-62%.
  • (16) In the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus (Vc), the collaterals of one half of the periodontium afferent fibers terminated mainly in lamina V at the rostral and middle levels of Vc.
  • (17) Loratadine has one main metabolite, descarbethoxyloratadine, which is four times more active than the parent drug.
  • (18) The structures of 1 and 2 were established mainly on the basis of nmr spectroscopic data.
  • (19) The main clinical symptom was pain, usually sciatica, while neurological symptoms were less common than they are in adults.
  • (20) Possibilities to achieve this both in the curative and the preventive field are restricted mainly due to the insufficient knowledge of their etiopathogenesis.

Vain


Definition:

  • (superl.) Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
  • (superl.) Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
  • (superl.) Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
  • (superl.) Showy; ostentatious.
  • (n.) Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase in vain.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) For example, if we purchase new examination equipment without any consideration or if we decide what type of equipment to introduce according to the common advice of the purchase committee of the hospital or the medical school, then we cannot design an ideal system of laboratory examinations and are forced to invest a large sum of money in vain.
  • (2) The George Bush campaign juggernaut hit the first serious pothole of its cash-fuelled drive to the presidency yesterday, as the Texas governor tried in vain to fend off questions about whether he had used cocaine as a young man.
  • (3) Full set list, show one (thanks to princevault.com ) Take Me With U (acoustic) Raspberry Beret (acoustic) U Got The Look (acoustic) Instrumental jam (acoustic) Train In Vain (acoustic) Q & A (1) incl.
  • (4) VaIN rarely is an isolated lesion and frequently is preceded by, or coexists with, other types of premalignant genital squamous neoplasia.
  • (5) He’s the kind of self-styled intellectual journalist in politics who caused so much trouble in 20th century politics, not a bad man, decent enough in his way, but not as smart as he thinks he is, vain with it.
  • (6) For long spells, West Ham searched in vain for inspiration as they tried to find a way past Newcastle United’s defence and end a run of three matches without a win.
  • (7) Further, in a vain attempt for a boost in the Hoosier State, Cruz unveiled former rival Carly Fiorina as his running mate if he receives the nomination and was able to cajole the state’s sitting governor, Mike Pence, into an endorsement.
  • (8) The next few days may well determine whether, this time, such loyalty will be in vain; but, while yearning for a clarion call and what was described as "vision" in this paper's leading article yesterday, I need to pose some pretty stark questions to Guardian readers.
  • (9) He aims to put his newspapers, including the Times and the Sun, behind a paywall, something described by the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, as a vain attempt to "put the genie back in the bottle".
  • (10) In vain I argued that Robin Day seemed to wear the same jacket and shirt every week, and fled back to radio."
  • (11) Now I can feel that my son's blood wasn't totally lost in vain.
  • (12) In vain will Cameron plead that blame should lie with Brown and his Labour colleagues.
  • (13) At a media day held to mark the completion of the training and arranged before the tragedy, soldier after soldier came forward to insist that, though they were apprehensive, they were determined to do a good job, partly to make sure that their six colleagues had not died in vain.
  • (14) He somehow scrambled to deuce and delighted in forcing Dimitrov to chase in vain from one side of the court to the other to go 6-5 up.
  • (15) Assessment of patients between 9 and 99 (mean 55) months after partial colpectomy for VAIN showed no recurrence of disease in ten patients (83%).
  • (16) The scientific establishment struggled in vain to produce evidence that would reassure the public.
  • (17) No grieving wants to go through that, and our city doesn’t want to go through that.” Murphy said an accelerated program to equip Baltimore police officers with body cameras would mean Gray “did not die in vain”.
  • (18) His mother has said she tried in vain to get help for him.
  • (19) But he flailed in vain as the police officers grabbed him, one forcing his T-shirt roughly up over his head as three or four others laid in with their wooden batons, dragging and pushing him to a line of waiting Land Cruisers and more helmeted cops.
  • (20) As Steve spends half his money trying in vain to keep a scowl off Michelle's face and the rest comfort eating, Liz stumped up half the cash.