mainstay
pronunciation
How to pronounce mainstay in British English:
UK [ˈmeɪnsteɪ]
How to pronounce mainstay in American English:
US [ˈmenˌste]
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- Noun:
- a prominent supporter
- a central cohesive source of support and stability
- the forestay that braces the mainmast
Word Origin
- mainstay (n.)
- "chief support," 1787, figurative use of a nautical noun meaning "stay which extends from the main-top to the foot of the foremast" (late 15c.), from main (adj.) + stay (n.).
Example
- 1. Built with slave labor , the industry here became the mainstay of venezuela 's colonial economy .
- 2. Foreign firms own the three ferry lines that serve the cross-channel port , the town 's mainstay .
- 3. On the very same day it legalised gambling , which has been the mainstay of its economy ever since .
- 4. Remittances are the mainstay of the economy as nepalis travel to the gulf , iraq , afghanistan and malaysia for work .
- 5. It was clear that the massive rise in exports , the mainstay of the china growth model until 2008 , was not sustainable .