Wednesday, September 7, 2011

main, mane

Main or main means the chief or most important--
Good credentials are the main thing.
Tonight's boxing match will be the main event.
A water main broke under our street.

Mane or mane ( rhymes with main ) means the ring of hair surrounding a lion's head, or the row of long hair on a horse's neck. It may also be used to describe a person's hair--
Only the male lion has a mane.
She braided her horse's main before the show.
He admired her long mane of red hair.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Keeping the horse's mane neat was the main point of the competition."

Note--"main" is also an old-fashioned term for the ocean or a sea--as in "crossing the watery main".
Note #2--"Maine" is one of our 50 states.
Note #3--a "mania" is an obsession or madness.
A "maniac" has such an obsession.
The "maniac" may be said to be "maniacal".
His or her behavior may be called "manic".

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