may

May
    n 1: the month following April and preceding June
    2: thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of
       white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries;
       established as an escape in eastern North America [syn:
       {whitethorn}, {English hawthorn}, {may}, {Crataegus
       laevigata}, {Crataegus oxycantha}]
    

May \May\ (m[=a]), v. [imp. {Might} (m[imac]t)] [AS. pres. maeg
   I am able, pret. meahte, mihte; akin to D. mogen, G.
   m["o]gen, OHG. mugan, magan, Icel. mega, Goth. magan, Russ.
   moche. [root]103. Cf. {Dismay}, {Main} strength, {Might}. The
   old imp. mought is obsolete, except as a provincial word.]
   An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by
   expressing:
   (a) Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener
       expressed by {can}.
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             How may a man, said he, with idle speech,
             Be won to spoil the castle of his health!
                                                  --Spenser.
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             For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what
             he may do as just, and what he may do as possible.
                                                  --Bacon.
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             For of all sad words of tongue or pen
             The saddest are these: "It might have been."
                                                  --Whittier.
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   (b) Liberty; permission; allowance.
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             Thou mayst be no longer steward.     --Luke xvi. 2.
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   (c) Contingency or liability; possibility or probability.
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             Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance
             Some general maxims, or be right by chance. --Pope.
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   (d) Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a
       question or remark.
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             How old may Phillis be, you ask.     --Prior.
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   (e) Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction,
       and the like. "May you live happily." --Dryden.
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   {May be}, & {It may be}, are used as equivalent to
      {possibly}, {perhaps}, {maybe}, {by chance},
      {peradventure}. See 1st {Maybe}.
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May \May\, n. [Cf. Icel. maer, Goth. mawi; akin to E. maiden.
   [root]103.]
   A maiden. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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May \May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the
   goddess Maia (Gr. Mai^a), daughter of Atlas and mother of
   Mercury by Jupiter.]
   1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
      --Chaucer.
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   2. The early part or springtime of life.
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            His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak.
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   3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from
      their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
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            The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash.
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            Plumes that mocked the may.           --Tennyson.
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   4. The merrymaking of May Day. --Tennyson.
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   {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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May, OK (town, FIPS 47000)
  Location: 36.61650 N, 99.74896 W
  Population (1990): 42 (34 housing units)
  Area: 0.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
  Zip code(s): 73851
May, TX
  Zip code(s): 76857
    

May, OK -- U.S. town in Oklahoma
   Population (2000):    33
   Housing Units (2000): 27
   Land area (2000):     0.179778 sq. miles (0.465622 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.179778 sq. miles (0.465622 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            47000
   Located within:       Oklahoma (OK), FIPS 40
   Location:             36.616536 N, 99.749363 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     73851
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    May, OK
    May