main (redirected from Main (river, Germany))

Main (mīn), river, c.310 mi (500 km) long, formed near Kulmbach, E central Germany, by the confluence of the Roter Main and the Weisser Main, both of which rise in the Fichtelgebirge. It then winds generally west through the rich farmland of central Germany and past the industrial areas of Schweinfurt, Würzburg, Aschaffenburg, and Frankfurt to the Rhine River at Mainz. Navigable from its junction with the Regnitz River, its chief tributary, the Main is an important east-west route. The Ludwig Canal connects it with the Danube River. A recently completed addition to the canal links the Danube with the Rhine, allowing barge traffic from the North Sea to the Black Sea, a distance of more than 2,000 mi (3,200 km). There are about 40 hydroelectric power plants on the Main, of which Griesheim (62,000-kW capacity) is the largest.

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main¹

1. Nautical of, relating to, or denoting any gear, such as a stay or sail, belonging to the mainmast

2. a principal pipe, conduit, duct, or line in a system used to distribute water, electricity, etc.

3. 

a. the main distribution network for water, gas, or electricity

b. (as modifier): mains voltage

4. Literary the open ocean

5. Archaic short for Spanish Main

6. Archaic short for mainland

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main²

1. a throw of the dice in dice games

2. a cockfighting contest

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Main

a river in central and W Germany, flowing west through W?rzburg and Frankfurt to the Rhine. Length: about 515 km (320 miles)

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main [mān]

(electricity)

One of the conductors extending from the service switch, generator bus, or converter bus to the main distribution center in interior wiring.

power transmission line

(engineering)

A duct or pipe that supplies or drains ancillary branches.