May, n.
 1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
 2. The early part or springtime of life.
    His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood.   --Shak.
 3. Bot. The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
    The palm and may make country houses gay.   --Nash.
    Plumes that mocked the may.   --Tennyson.
 4. The merrymaking of May Day.
 Italian may Bot., a shrubby species of Spiraea (Spiraea hypericifolia) with many clusters of small white flowers along the slender branches.
 May apple Bot., the fruit of an American plant (Podophyllum peltatum). Also, the plant itself (popularly called mandrake), which has two lobed leaves, and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.
 May beetle, May bug Zool., any one of numerous species of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the winged state in May.  They belong to Melolontha, and allied genera.  Called also June beetle.
 May Day, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a garland, and by dancing about a May pole.
 May dew, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which magical properties were attributed.
 May flower Bot., a plant that flowers in May; also, its blossom. See Mayflower, in the vocabulary.
 May fly Zool., any species of Ephemera, and allied genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many species appear in May. See Ephemeral fly, under Ephemeral.
 May game, any May-day sport.
 May lady, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.
 May lily Bot., the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis).
 May pole. See Maypole in the Vocabulary.
 May queen, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the sports of May Day.
 May thorn, the hawthorn.
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 Queen n.
 1. The wife of a king.
 2. A woman who is the sovereign of a kingdom; a female monarch; as, Elizabeth, queen of England; Mary, queen of Scots.
    In faith, and by the heaven's quene.   --Chaucer.
 3. A woman eminent in power or attractions; the highest of her kind; as, a queen in society; -- also used figuratively of cities, countries, etc. “ This queen of cities.”  “ Albion, queen of isles.”
 4. The fertile, or fully developed, female of social bees, ants, and termites.
 5. Chess The most powerful, and except the king the most important, piece in a set of chessmen.
 6. A playing card bearing the picture of a queen; as, the queen of spades.
 Queen apple. [Cf. OE. quyne aple quince apple.] A kind of apple; a queening. “Queen apples and red cherries.” --Spenser.
 Queen bee Zool., a female bee, especially the female of the honeybee. See Honeybee.
 Queen conch Zool., a very large West Indian cameo conch (Cassis cameo). It is much used for making cameos.
 Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king. --Blackstone.
 Queen dowager, the widow of a king.
 Queen gold, formerly a revenue of the queen consort of England, arising from gifts, fines, etc.
 Queen mother, a queen dowager who is also mother of the reigning king or queen.
 Queen of May. See May queen, under May.
 Queen of the meadow Bot., a European herbaceous plant (Spiræa Ulmaria). See Meadowsweet.
 Queen of the prairie Bot., an American herb (Spiræa lobata) with ample clusters of pale pink flowers.
 Queen pigeon Zool., any one of several species of very large and handsome crested ground pigeons of the genus Goura, native of New Guinea and the adjacent islands. They are mostly pale blue, or ash-blue, marked with white, and have a large occipital crest of spatulate feathers. Called also crowned pigeon, goura, and Victoria pigeon.
 Queen regent, or Queen regnant, a queen reigning in her own right.
 Queen's Bench. See King's Bench.
 Queen's counsel, Queen's evidence. See King's counsel, King's evidence, under King.
 Queen's delight Bot., an American plant (Stillinqia sylvatica) of the Spurge family, having an herbaceous stem and a perennial woody root.
 Queen's metal Metal., an alloy somewhat resembling pewter or britannia, and consisting essentially of tin with a slight admixture of antimony, bismuth, and lead or copper.
 Queen's pigeon. Zool. Same as Queen pigeon, above.
 Queen's ware, glazed English earthenware of a cream color.
 Queen's yellow Old Chem., a heavy yellow powder consisting of a basic mercuric sulphate; -- formerly called turpetum minerale, or Turbith's mineral.
 May queen
      n : the girl chosen queen of a May Day festival [syn: queen of
          the May]