mainlymain‧ly /ˈmeɪnli/ ●●● S2 W2 adverb 
Her illness was caused mainly by stress. The workforce is mainly made up of women. I don’t go out much, mainly because I have to look after the kids. Increased sales during the summer were mainly due to tourism. We talked about various things – work, mainly.GRAMMAR• You usually use mainly in the middle of a sentence: · They play mainly on Sundays.· People go there mainly because of the beautiful beaches.• You also use mainly at the end of a sentence, especially in conversation: · I read novels, mainly.• It is much less commonly used at the beginning of a sentence.RegisterIn written English, people often prefer to use chiefly or primarily, which sound more formal than mainly:· The disease is caused chiefly by poor sanitation.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- AIDS is transmitted mainly through sexual contact.
- I was asked to lead the meeting mainly because Kristin is out of town.
- Is Idaho where you grew up, mainly?
- My new job's fairly boring - it's mainly typing.
- The company sells its batteries mainly through electronics stores.
- We cater mainly to small businesses.
- At $ 2 billion each, the B-2 is mainly built in California and Washington state.
- Farms were mainly in the 10-40 hectare range although there were some larger units.
- Medical involvement was mainly in the background, but it included expert knowledge of abnormal neuromuscular function and its alleviation.
- Now I think we're mainly suffering from shock.
- The others are mainly rectangular with cream surrounds and gold material backings.
- This impetus originated mainly from two previously noted sources: the user's immediate family and the police.
Longman Language Activatorways of stating the main reason for something or the main part of something
use this to say what the main reason for something or the main part of something is: · I was asked to lead the meeting mainly because Kristin is out of town.· My new job's fairly boring - it's mainly typing.· The company sells its batteries mainly through electronics stores.
largely and chiefly mean the same as mainly , but they are used especially in written or formal English: · The bird lives chiefly on mice and other small animals.· The report says that drug use is largely responsible for the 40% rise in the city's homicide rate.· Money raised by the new tax is to be used chiefly for road construction.
firstly and most importantly: · Foreign aid is intended principally for the south of the region.· The agency is primarily concerned with making sure the nation's food supplies are safe.· She has a degree in anthropology, but she's primarily a writer.
most importantly compared to other things, especially ones you have just mentioned: · Above all, she will be remembered for all the work she did in the community.· Teaching history means above all knowing how to tell a story.
use this to say that something is the most important thing, and needs to be dealt with before anything else and given attention before anything else: · First and foremost, they are looking for ways to save money.· What children need first and foremost from their parents is a sense of security.
when there is much more of one type than of other types · Apart from the Nile valley, Egypt is mostly desert.· I used to read a lot of poetry, mainly love poetry.· The new immigrants were mainly from Southern Europe.· The surface of Mercury seems to consist largely of dust.
if something, especially a group of people, is predominantly of a particular type, most of it is of that type: · The character Shylock is a Jew living in a predominantly Christian society.· As a civil engineer, Susan will be competing in a predominantly male profession.· Our economy is predominantly capitalist.
formal if people or things of a particular type predominate in a place or situation, they are present in greater numbers than other types of people or things: · Dairy farms predominate in Sussex.· In the summer, blue and pink flowers predominate, but there are white flowers, too, for contrast.
if people of a particular kind are in the majority in an organization or group, they form the largest part of it: · The number of women on the committee has grown steadily and now they are in the majority.
formal if there is a preponderance of people or things of a particular type in a group, most of the people or things in the group are of that type - used especially when the group is being studied: · At some universities, there is a preponderance of older lecturers.· They chose to investigate reasons for the preponderance of large families among the poor and ill-educated.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES I decided to go with them, mainly because I had nothing better to do. The audience consisted mainly of teenagers.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
used to mention the main part or cause of something, the main reason for something etc SYN primarily: I decided to go with them, mainly because I had nothing better to do. The audience consisted mainly of teenagers.· My criticisms are mainly concerned with Blake's handling of some major theoretical issues and with certain parts of the book.· These factories are mainly concerned with manufacturing product for artists signed to the record company.· In Formen Marx is mainly concerned with other contradictory combinations of incompatible social principles.· Our report is mainly concerned with 1984 onwards.· This is mainly concerned with economic restructuring and agricultural development, a considerable part of it linked to the environment.· The museum is mainly concerned with the local textile industry, and is particularly good on the period of the Luddite riots.· The debate amongst the leaders was mainly concerned with that important question.· Although such bodies have the power to recommend criminal prosecution, they are mainly concerned with the inspection and regulation of organisations.
VERB· Till now criticism of Concorde appears to have been based mainly on environmental grounds.· All soya sauces provide invaluable seasoning to strict vegetarian diets that are based mainly on relatively bland grains.· Primary production is based mainly on diatoms, living in the ice and in open water.· Good discipline is mainly based on mutual love and respect.· The theoretical literature on industrial relations is mainly based on the national developments just outlined.· The work of the first two years is based mainly on prescribed texts, and on literary and stylistic criticism.· This is mainly based on common hear-say as many of these people have read very little of his work.· Previous studies on longterm results of fundoplication were based mainly on questioning patients, with only sporadic endoscopical examination.
· Customers come mainly from the more socially deprived homes within the area.· The end came mainly through the efforts of Rev.· Repeat news comes mainly from Down Under.· Evidence supporting a genetic component to predisposition comes mainly from a large study of 15924 male twin pairs.· Funding came mainly through the health authority's capital programme.· Propane-rich fuels come mainly from oil extraction and refining, and can be burnt either in spark-ignition motors or dual-fuel units.· All are roost sites except Salthouse, where there was a nest and the pellets collected came mainly from the nestlings.
· Kaolinite clays are mainly composed of the clay mineral kaolin.· The money economy shook the foundations of a society composed mainly of lords and peasants.· The Lizard complex is composed mainly of serpentinite with gabbro and metamorphosed basic rocks.· The Stinkdolomit is composed mainly of dark, thinly bedded and dolomitised carbonate mudstones.· All three are mainly composed of silica, but analysis reveals significant differences in other components.· On March 6 Anand appointed an interim Cabinet composed mainly of businessmen and technocrats.· The Island is composed mainly of red sandstone.
· The Leggatt catalogues date from 1836 to 1992 and concentrate mainly on paintings, drawings and prints.· We have seen that the new managers concentrated mainly on their new rights and privileges.· The remaining chapters in this Section concentrate mainly on the activities of these Marketing specialists.· These losses are concentrated mainly in the transport industries, aIthough the numbers employed in personal services have also declined.· Technical Bulletin covers a wide variety of subjects, concentrating mainly on audit, accounting and tax.· The analysis carried out concentrated mainly on the relationships between undergraduates' academic performance and their entry qualifications.
· The performance indicators which are produced consist mainly of data on payment, which makes useful analysis difficult.· Much of the remaining 25 percent, consisting mainly of glass, metals, and ceramics, can be recovered and recycled.· A board of directors of Salomon Brothers was born, consisting mainly of former traders.· These consist mainly of extensions, alterations and garages.· Currently both bodies consist mainly of educators.· The external changes during growth are comparatively slight and consist mainly of an increase in size at each moult.· The presidents' men have organised counter-demonstrations, mainly consisting of unenthusiastic state employees.
· Packaging materials consisted mainly of greaseproof paper and brown paper bags.· In the early l960s Bengali agriculture consisted mainly of subsistence farming.· The woods beyond the rectory garden consisted mainly of beech trees, very tall, as though sending their branches up to the light.· Despite the presence of elephants in the East and of horses and donkeys everywhere, these caravans consisted mainly of camels.· The launch programme in March 1995 mainly consisted of music videos.· There was no narrative or overt expressiveness in the movement, which consisted mainly of high-energy skips and swoops.· Cambridge, like all University towns, consisted mainly of colleges and bookshops - and also bicycles.· At this time fortifications consisted mainly of earth banks and wooden palisades.
· Though a number of the old houses remain, the street now consists mainly of shops and offices.· My job mainly consists of writing down the information necessary to have somebody billed.· It consists mainly of a diagram of the shape, plus figures that tell you about the sizes, stitches and rows.· So even this type of pattern consists mainly of figures.· The rest of Leo consists mainly of the triangle formed by Beta, Delta and Theta.· Practice is interpreted as repetition, and feedback consists mainly of approving reactions from the teacher.· That consists mainly of recession-resistant retail properties, whose values fell only 5 percent last year.· My Saturday morning show consists mainly of music that I have selected, and occasionally the odd request as well.
· Therefore, I want to deal mainly with some other aspects of foreign policy.· While it deals mainly with the Arizona border area, much is obviously applicable elsewhere.· They deal mainly with the analysis of secondary data, rather than multi-country analysis of survey data.· Four out of the five Railfreight sub-sectors deal mainly with bulk traffic which travels by the trainload rather than by the individual wagonload.· It is the Cinderella service because it mainly deals with powerless people.· Lawyers mainly deal with the theory of things whereas an experienced manager is concerned with practicalities.· I shall deal mainly with the latter subject, but I intend to spend just a few minutes on education.· Several desk studies were carried out for customers, mainly dealing with the market economics of mineral commodities.
· The peaceful transition to democracy depends mainly on the military regime.· The amount loaned depends mainly on the credit reputation of the borrower and the quality of the receivables pledged.· The amount of the annuity that will be taxable will depend mainly on her age when she buys the annuity.· The quality of butter depends mainly on the quality of the cream churned.· Two thirds of lone parent families depend mainly on social security benefits, compared with one in eight two parent families.· Educational opportunity varies, depending mainly on family attitudes.· Just how good it is depends mainly upon how much care one takes over the cream sauce.· This depends mainly on the size of the record and the operating speeds of the direct access device in question.
· He goes on to relate many other such stories, mainly involving apparitions on the mission field.· The differences among these dialects, which mainly involved pronunciation, were similar to differences among dialects in the present-day United States.· Telepathy Similar in some ways to clairvoyance, but it mainly involves communicating with somebody else without using normal senses.· Other resources used mainly involve photocopying, typing, stationery, postage and telephone costs.· Sources of errors in searching mainly involve failure to find related papers due to inconsistencies in the use of personal names.· This mainly involves monitoring speed limits and ensuring that all craft are licensed to use the waterway.
· The Mazda 323 1.6i fastback is to be used mainly by crime prevention officers for visiting schools and exhibitions.· Nowadays, the tree is used mainly to provide a quick vegetative cover on the scarred landscapes left after strip mining.· The drop-in system of battery connection is mainly used by Fisher and Compass.· The flight was operated under military cover and used mainly by Agency people with short-term business at the base.· Video can now be used mainly as a source of information and as a stimulus to classroom activity such as debate and discussion.· Durum wheat is used mainly in pasta.· However, I was not entirely happy with the situation because aromatherapy was being used mainly as a palliative.· Dried whole milk is used mainly in infant feeding, but it can be reconstituted and used as fresh fluid milk.
· Does not have overseas based staff but works mainly through partner Churches and Councils of Churches. 4.· Y., which works mainly for ad agencies and is following a Nielsen-like model of audience measurement through random sampling.· They were mainly worked for lead and the Pennine orefields were later worked for baryte and fluorite.· So, since they could not gain access to the public arena, they worked mainly through family networks.· General practitioners work mainly as individuals supported by primary care teams.· Girls seem to have worked mainly at the surface picking out stones from the coal.· By 1988 al Mujama'a had an active following of about 2,000 working mainly in the refugee camps.· Wilson has worked mainly on Carboniferous faunas collected from surface exposures and boreholes.
Her illness was caused mainly by stress. The workforce is mainly made up of women. I don’t go out much, mainly because I have to look after the kids. Increased sales during the summer were mainly due to tourism. We talked about various things – work, mainly.GRAMMAR• You usually use mainly in the middle of a sentence: · They play mainly on Sundays.· People go there mainly because of the beautiful beaches.• You also use mainly at the end of a sentence, especially in conversation: · I read novels, mainly.• It is much less commonly used at the beginning of a sentence.RegisterIn written English, people often prefer to use chiefly or primarily, which sound more formal than mainly:· The disease is caused chiefly by poor sanitation.