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/əˈmeɪn/ · adverb
(archaic, literary) With all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently..
And in beholding how he [the cyclops Polyphemus] fed and belked vp againe His bloody vittels at his mouth, and vttred out amayne The clottred gobbets mixt with wyne, I [Odysseus] thus ſurmyſde: like lot Hangs ouer my head now, and I muſt alſo go to pot.
So likewiſe turnde the Prince vpon the Knight, And layd at him amaine with all his will and might.
For they both ſay and beleeue that this picture hath ſo great vertue, as alſo that of Padua, whereof I haue before ſpoken, that whenſoeuer it is carried abroad in a ſolemne proceſſion in the time of a great drougth, it will cauſe raine to deſcend from heauen either before it is brought backe into the Church, or very ſhortly after. […] I cannot be induced to attribute ſo much to the vertue of a picture, as the Venetians do, except I had ſeene ſome notable miracle wrought by the ſame. For it brought no drops at all with it: onely about two dayes after it rained (I muſt needes confeſſe) amaine. But I hope they are not ſo ſuperſtitious to aſcribe that to the vertue of the picture.
They on the Hill, which were not yet come to blows, perceaving the fewneſs of thir Enemies, came down amain; […]
Under his ſpecial eie Abſtemious I [Samson] grew up and thriv'd amain; He led me on to mightieſt deeds Above the nerve of mortal arm Againſt the uncircumciſ'd, our enemies.
It [this book] ſhews too, who ſets out for life amain, As if the laſting Crown they would attain: Here alſo you may ſee the reaſon why They looſe their labour, and like Fools do die.
The palfrey was as fleet as wind, And they rode furiously behind. They spurr'd amain, their steeds were white; And once we cross'd the shade of night.
Oh! when I have hung Above the raven's nest, by knots of grass And half-inch fissures in the slippery rock But ill sustained, and almost (so it seemed) Suspended by the blast which blew amain, Shouldering the naked crag, oh at that time, While on the perilous ridge I hung alone, With what strange utterance did the loud dry wind Blow through my ears!
Use amain when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Amain means (archaic, literary) With all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently..
Common synonyms include with full force.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
And in beholding how he [the cyclops Polyphemus] fed and belked vp againe His bloody vittels at his mouth, and vttred out amayne The clottred gobbets mixt with wyne, I [Odysseus] thus ſurmyſde: like lot Hangs ouer my head now, and I muſt alſo go to pot.
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