main4+ (man)

t. [By apheresis for amain2.] To furl: said of sails. Thanne he made vs to mayne , that ys to sey stryk Downe ower sayles. Torkington , Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 59. When it is a tempest almost intolerable for other ships, and maketh them main all their sails, these [carackes] hoist up theirs, and sail excellently well. T. Stevens (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 132). main5t, v. t. An obsolete variant of maim . main a (ma'nä), n. [ main a , a starling.] 1. A kind of bird. See mina2 and Eulabes .-2. [ cap .] A genus of birds: same as Eulabes . B. R. Hodgson, 1836. Also Main at us (R. P. Le on, 1831).