amain

adv

1. (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.”

   “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.”

2. (archaic)At full speed; also, in great haste.

   “At length the Danes beeing aſſayled on eche ſide, both a front before, and on their backes behinde, oppreſſed as it were wyth multitude, they threwe downe theyr weapons and fled amain.”

   “[T]he Queene o'th Skie [i.e., Juno], Whoſe watry Arch, and meſſenger, am I. Bids thee leaue theſe, & with her ſoueraigne grace, Here on this graſſe-plot, in this very place To come, and ſport: here [i.e., her] Peacocks flye amaine: Approach, rich Ceres, her to entertaine.”

   “Now when he was got up to the top of the Hill, there came two Men running againſt him amain; the name of the one was Timorous, and of the other Miſtruſt. To whom Chriſtian ſaid, Sirs, what's the matter you run the wrong way?”

   “The heavy rain it hurries amain And heaven and the hurricane.”

   “So that it was like a sweet home-coming to him to come on board his well-built ship and have her rowed amain out of Lookinghaven.”

3. (British, dialectal)Out of control.

   “The waggonway lay near the Windmill Hills and went down the north side of the hills to the Rivir Tine, and at the Coal steath [= staithe] Mathew Gray lived. I was about hauf way down the bank when thur was two Waggons Coming after me Amain [= broken loose and running away].”

4. (obsolete)Exceedingly; overmuch.

   “Riches are mine, Fortune is in my hand; They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, While Virtue, Valour, Wiſdom ſit in want.”

   “The herd approach'd; each guest, with busy brain, Arriving at the portal, gaz'd amain, And enter'd marveling: […]”

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive)To lower (the sail of a ship, particularly the topsail).
2. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To decrease or reduce (something).
3. (intransitive, obsolete)To lower the topsail in token of surrender; to yield.