mainstay
Other forms: mainstays
A mainstay is something that acts as a source of support for a community. If your hometown's economy depends on tourists visiting every summer, you could say that tourism is the mainstay of your town.
A mainstay holds everything together, whether it's your grandmother who acts as the anchor of your whole crazy family, a pillar that physically keeps a building from falling down, or the job that enables you to pay your rent every month. The noun mainstay is originally a nautical term meaning the rope that stabilizes two masts on a sailboat, and since the 1780s it's been used to mean "chief support."
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a prominent supporter
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a central cohesive source of support and stability
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the forestay that braces the mainmast
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type of:
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forestay
an adjustable stay from the foremast to the deck or bowsprit; controls the bending of the mast
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forestay
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Vocabulary lists containing mainstay
This novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Juan de Pareja, the half-African slave of famed painter Diego Velázquez in 17th century Spain.
This nonfiction book presents research about the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere before the arrival of Europeans in 1492, shedding new light on the knowledge that these groups had in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, agriculture, and more.
This nonfiction book recounts the story of how a 245 BCE sea journey from Athens to Alexandria inspired Eratosthenes of Cyrene to contemplate the stars and measure the distance around the earth.
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