The difference between By and Main

When used as nouns, by means a pass, whereas main means that which is chief or principal.

When used as adverbs, by means along a path which runs by the speaker, whereas main means exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

When used as adjectives, by means out of the way, subsidiary, whereas main means of chief or leading importance.

By is also preposition with the meaning: near or next to.

check bellow for the other definitions of By and Main

  1. By as a preposition:

    Near or next to.

    Examples:

    "The mailbox is by the bus stop."

  2. By as a preposition:

    At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval.

    Examples:

    "Be back by ten o'clock!  We will send it by the first week of July."

  3. By as a preposition:

    Through the action or presence of.

    Examples:

    "The matter was decided by the chairman.  The boat was swamped by the water.  He was protected by his body armour."

  4. By as a preposition:

    Existing through the authorship etc. of.

    Examples:

    "There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare"

  5. By as a preposition:

    Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of.

  6. By as a preposition:

    Involving/using the means of.

    Examples:

    "I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking."

  7. By as a preposition:

    Examples:

    "The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight."

  8. By as a preposition:

    .

    Examples:

    "I sorted the items by category.  By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife."

  9. By as a preposition:

    With a change of.

    Examples:

    "Our stock is up by ten percent."

  10. By as a preposition:

    Examples:

    "We went through the book page by page.  We crawled forward by inches."

  11. By as a preposition:

    According to.

    Examples:

    "He cheated by his own admission."

  12. By as a preposition:

    With the authority of.

    Examples:

    "'By Jove! I think she's got it!  By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this."

  13. By as a preposition:

    Examples:

    "It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix.  The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.  The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by nowrap 30 cm."

  14. By as a preposition (horse breeding):

    Examples:

    "She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress."

  1. By as an adverb:

    Along a path which runs by the speaker.

    Examples:

    "I watched as it passed by."

  2. By as an adverb:

    In the vicinity, near.

    Examples:

    "There was a shepherd close by."

    "The shop is hard by the High Street."

  3. By as an adverb:

    To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.

    Examples:

    "I'll stop by on my way home from work."

    "We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave."

  4. By as an adverb:

    Aside, away.

    Examples:

    "The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring."

  1. By as an adjective:

    Out of the way, subsidiary.

  1. By as a noun (card games):

    A pass

  1. Main as an adjective:

    Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.

  2. Main as an adjective:

    Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.

    Examples:

    "synonyms largest"

    "'main timbers  main branch of a river  main body of an army"

  3. Main as an adjective:

    Of force, strength, etc.: full, sheer, undivided.

  4. Main as an adjective (dialectal):

    Big; angry.

  5. Main as an adjective (nautical):

    Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.

  6. Main as an adjective (obsolete):

    Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.

  1. Main as an adverb (Britain, dialectal):

    Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

  1. Main as a verb (transitive):

  2. Main as a verb (transitive, gaming):

    To mainly play a specific character, or side, during a game.

    Examples:

    "He mains the same character as me in that game."

    "What race do you main and what is your favourite race to beat?"

  3. Main as a verb (obsolete):

    Of a road: to convert into a main or primary road.

  1. Main as a noun (video gaming):

    That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross. The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character.

    Examples:

    "antonyms alt"

    "My [[w:WoW WoW]] main has reached level cap and I’m on my way getting my first alt there as well."

  2. Main as a noun:

    A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main.

  3. Main as a noun (informal):

    Examples:

    "I had scampi and chips for my main and a slice of cheesecake for dessert."

  4. Main as a noun (now, poetic):

    The high seas.

  5. Main as a noun (now, archaic, US, _, dialectal):

    The mainland.

  6. Main as a noun (nautical):

  7. Main as a noun (obsolete, except in [[might and main]]):

    Force, power, strength, violent effort.

  1. Main as a noun (obsolete, gaming):

    A hand or match in a game of dice.

  2. Main as a noun (obsolete, gaming):

    The largest throw in a match at dice; in the game of hazard, a number from one to nine called out by a person before the dice are thrown.

  3. Main as a noun (obsolete, gaming):

    A stake played for at dice.

  4. Main as a noun (obsolete, gaming, sports):

    A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.

  5. Main as a noun:

    A banker's shovel for coins.

  1. Main as a noun (obsolete, rare):

    A basket for gathering grapes.

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