may — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To be strong; to have power (over).

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle
   • Obsolete

2. To be able; can.

   Usage

   • auxiliary
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle
   • Obsolete

   Examples

   But many times[…]we give way to passions we may resist and will not.

3. To be able to go.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle
   • Poetic

   Examples

   O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East, That I may backe to Athens by day-light […].

4. To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.

   Usage

   • auxiliary
   • defective
   • modal
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle

   Synonyms

   cancouldmight

   Examples

   you may smoke outside

   may I sit there?

   More examples (1)

   May we request that patrons kindly take their seats.

5. Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Expressing a present possibility; possibly.

   Usage

   • auxiliary
   • defective
   • modal
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle

   Synonyms

   couldmight

   Examples

   he may be lying

   Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box.

   More examples (3)

   Sam may be intelligent, but he isn't wise. [This speaker does not know with certainty whether Sam is intelligent, but the speaker allows the possibility.]

   A female crocodile may lay up to forty eggs. [Typical occurrence.]

   The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.

6. Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements.

   Usage

   • auxiliary
   • defective
   • modal
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle

   Synonyms

   might

   Examples

   You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.

   More examples (2)

   A: Sigh. I'm bummed that Stephen Hawking died. B: Well, he may have died, but he's still alive in our hearts. [This speaker does not doubt that Stephen has died; nonetheless, the verb inflection is not different.]

   Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

7. Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect).

   Usage

   • defective
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle
   • present
   • subjunctive

   Synonyms

   might

   Examples

   may you win; may the weather be sunny; long may your reign last

   Let us pray that peace may soon return to our war-torn homeland.

   More examples (2)

   May God bless and keep you always / May your wishes all come true / May you always do for others / And let others do for you / May you build a ladder to the stars / And climb on every rung / May you stay forever young

   May I never miss the thrill of being near you

8. Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.

   Usage

   • auxiliary
   • defective
   • modal
   • no-past-participle
   • no-present-participle

   Examples

   How old may Phillis be, you ask, / Whose Beauty thus all Hearts engages.

Noun

1. The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   The fire from Lindfield was coming down the grassy hillside to the right between the hedges of may.

Verb

1. To gather may, or flowers in general.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Poetic

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Soo it befelle in the moneth of May / quene Gueneuer called vnto her knyȝtes of the table round / and she gafe them warnynge that erly vpon the morowe she wold ryde on mayeng in to woodes & feldes besyde westmynstre. "So it befell in the month of May, Queen Guenever called unto her knights of the Table Round; and she gave them warning that early upon the morrow she would ride a-Maying into woods and fields beside Westminster."

   In valleys green and still / Where lovers wander maying

2. To celebrate May Day.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Poetic

Noun

1. A maiden.

   Usage

   • Archaic

   Related words

   may-woon

Noun

1. 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

   Synonyms

   whitethornEnglish hawthornCrataegus laevigataCrataegus oxycantha

   Broader terms

   hawthornhaw