main frame

English

Noun

main frame (plural main frames)

1. Alternative form of mainframe
2. the rigid frame upon which the moving parts of a machine are mounted; chassis
   • 1951 March, “British Railways Standard "Britannia" Class 4-6-2 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 186:

     The main frames are of 1¼-in. thick plates spaced 3 ft. 2½ in. apart, the centre lines coinciding with the centre of the axlebox guide faces.

3. (shipbuilding) the widest structural frame located near the middle of a ship

Related terms

• subframe