mainlineadj.
/ˈmeɪnlʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈmeɪnˌlaɪn/ 1.
a. Of or relating to the main line of a railway.
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society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [adjective] > of or relating to main line
mainline1879
1879 E. J. Simmons Mem. Station Master (1974) viii. 124 I couldn't take charge of this main-line station if you gave me all the world.
1884 R. Pike Railway Adventures & Anecd. 93 A gentleman..got into a first-class carriage..with the intention of proceeding home by one of the main line down trains.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. 5/2 Tank engines were the first to be fitted as oil-burners, and now some of the newest main line locomotives are to be fitted.
1926 Daily Express 11 May 1/1 Great improvements in the main line train services continue to be made throughout the country.
1958 New Statesman 11 Oct. 484/2 Wuhsi..apparently sees a foreigner rarely although it is a large main-line city.
1992 J. M. Bumsted Peoples of Canada iii. 78 Main-line was better than branch location, main-line junction was better than simple main-line, and rail-head was perhaps the best of all.
2004 Hot Property 6 Aug. 33/5 (advt.) Close to shopping parade and Hanwell main-line station.
b. U.S. colloquial. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Philadelphia Main Line or a similar elite.
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1941 Time 20 Jan. 77 High life in Philadelphia's Main Line society.
1963 Guardian 29 Apr. 9/1 She is from a wealthy main-line Philadelphia family.
1965 P. Freund Spymaster 114 His family, though not Main Line, was acceptable.
1971 Wall St. Jrnl. 13 Aug. 1/6 They robbed the home of a wealthy Main Line doctor.
1980 W. M. Spackman Presence with Secrets ii. 62 His family didn't go in for religion thank God either, just bibelot-collecting in a distinguished way and Main Line polo.
1990 M. Harris Hemingway's Suitcase vii. 48 Her accent was Philadelphia Main Line.
2. slang. Of, relating to, or characterized by the intravenous injection of drugs. Also figurative.
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [adjective] > by injection
mainline1937
1937 B. Dai Opium Addiction in Chicago Gloss. 201 Main-liners, addicts who inject drugs intravenously. Also called vein-shooters, and main-line shooters.
1944 R. A. Moore Textbk. Pathol. xlvii. 522 On occasion, as in ‘main-line’ drug addicts, the fungus may be introduced directly into the blood.
1957 J. Kerouac On the Road ii. x. 173 A big shot of heroin in the main-line vein.
1969 Daily Tel. 29 Jan. 21/7 He was allowed a daily prescription of three grains—18 pills—of heroin. These were dissolved and injected directly into the bloodstream, which was known as the ‘mainline’ method.
1969 Punch 26 Feb. 295/3 Flattery is the mainline drug of the theatre—there is no one connected with that ridiculous institution who does not need his fix.
1972 Times 10 Apr. 10/4 As a mainline addict of BBC news..it has taken a week of comparing news on the two channels..to push me into the ranks of the deserters.
1974 G. Jenkins Bridge of Magpies iii. 46 Then you'll be like that poor bugger coming off now in the boat. Started smoking grass. Grew the stuff..in a potty in his cottage... He's on to mainline stuff now.
1994 Guardian 11 Oct. ii. 6/1 In the first series of Cracker..Fitz was on mainline booze, tobacco, and obsessive gambling.
3. Principal, belonging to the first rank; of or characteristic of a well-established position, conventional, mainstream, middle-of-the-road.
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the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [adjective] > in line with prevailing tendency or mainstream
current1593
mainline1941
1941 E. Blunden Thomas Hardy iii. 42 Here he wrote one of his main-line novels.
1958 Listener 13 Nov. 775/1 Asimov's two books..in addition to being main-line science fiction, are also ‘whodunits’ in the classic tradition.
1968 Punch 11 Sept. 378/3 The enthusiasm of American main-line politicians for TV is said to be waning.
1986 City Limits 9 Oct. 94 I've never been a mainline feminist.
1988 L. Martz & G. Carroll Ministry of Greed iii. 46 There is considerable evidence that many of them tend to be somewhat alienated from mainline America.
1990 Financial Rev. (Sydney) 12 June 10/4 If, as expected by brokers, Compass meets its equity targets it will be the first publicly listed mainline carrier in Australia.
4. Of, belonging, or relating to traditional Christian denominations, as opposed to fundamentalist or evangelical ones. Esp. in mainline Protestant.
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1948 R. F. West Alexander Campbell & Nat. Relig. xv. 221 Main-line Protestant principles: Luther, Calvin, Wesley.
1959 Chicago Tribune 15 Oct. iv. 10/2 So far as the so-called lower classes are concerned, main line Protestant groups are leaving Christianity to Jehovah's Witnesses, the Salvation Army, or the store front sects.
1971 Rev. Relig. Res. 12 140 The mainline churches cater to suburbanites and accommodate their message to the affluent.
1990 Winchester (Va.) Star 12 Jan. a6/2 Never before..had anyone professedly in a homosexual relationship been ordained into the mainline Christian ministry.
2012 G. Beck Cowards viii. 166 Their fixation on a fictitious version of social justice that promotes big government almost killed once-dominant mainline Protestant churches.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mainlinev.
/ˈmeɪnlʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈmeɪnˌlaɪn/ slang (originally U.S.).
1. transitive and intransitive. To inject (heroin or a similar drug) intravenously, esp. illicitly; to inject (a person) with heroin or a similar drug.
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > take drugs [verb (transitive)] > inject (with) drugs
shoot1914
jab1938
mainline1938
main1952
pop1952
skin1953
fix1969
1938 Amer. Speech 13 187/2 If you can main-line a cube of that stuff, it is on the house.
1959 ‘E. McBain’ Pusher viii. 77 Snorting?.. Skin pops?.. Larry, Larry, are you mainlining?
1964 B. Ellis I came back from Hell iii. 24 She was only skin-popping in those days (injecting her arms), not mainlining (injecting her veins).
1972 M. Pereira Singing Millionaire vii. 71 He made himself a fix..and he mainlined it.
1981 R. Schoenstein et al. I-Hate-Preppies Handbk. 18 The first American Freak was a member of the Continental Congress..who found a way to mainline snuff.
1986 Daily Tel. 27 Feb. 6/4 Why not mainline him with heroin and give him a taste of the living death he has been pushing..?
2. figurative.
a. transitive and intransitive. To consume avidly or insatiably; to resort to frequently or cravenly. Also reflexive.
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1971 L. Ginsberg Let. 24 May in A. Ginsberg & L. Ginsberg Family Business (2001) 324 Meanwhile, using one of my own phrases, I am mainlining myself with dreams and hopes and optimism.
1977 Washington Post 15 May (Mag.) 69/3 The vodka marinated in strawberries is like mainlining strawberries.
1987 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 June 698/2 Adele starts to mainline on wishful thinking as soon as she goes away to college.
1992 I. Banks Crow Road i. 18 Little brother was leaning against the crematorium wall looking bored but cool.., earplugs in, getting his Walkman fix at last. Still mainlining The Doors, probably.
1997 Times 19 July 20/7 The one thing that will wreck this satisfactory move..is if someone gets Mrs Parker Bowles mainlining on publicity.
b. transitive. To introduce directly (into), with unmitigated strength or impact.
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1989 C. Shields Orange Fish 195 Words were being mainlined straight into Peter's ear.
1993 Rolling Stone 18 Feb. 52/2 In the mid-Sixties, Wicked Wilson Pickett mainlined American music with a hefty dose of undiluted soul.
1996 New Statesman 26 July 26/1 [He] gave the impression that Dole wanted to mainline nicotine into the lungs of every young person in America.
Derivatives
ˈmainlining n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > by injection
needle1903
jabbing1926
main line1931
mainlining1951
shooting1951
skin-popping1951
skin-pop1952
popping1957
skinning1973
1951 N.Y. Times 27 June 19/1 An intravenous injection of the drug..is called ‘mainlining’.
1971 Nature 5 Nov. 14/3 The serious possibilities were raised of teratogenicity, tachycardia (especially if main-lining ever started), brain damage, [etc.].
1984 Times 8 Oct. 13/3 More is taken by sniffing the powder..or by..inhaling the fumes after the powdered heroin has been melted over heated tin foil..less through intravenous injection—mainlining.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1879
v.1938