A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée ("entry") course, and the salad course. In North American usage it may in fact be called the "entrée".
The main course is usually the heaviest, heartiest, and most complex or substantive dish on a menu. The main ingredient is usually meat or fish; in vegetarian meals, the main course sometimes attempts to mimic a meat course. It is most often preceded by an appetizer, soup, or salad, and followed by a dessert. For those reasons the main course is sometimes referred to as the "meat course“.