MAY (might)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: might   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does May mean? 

• MAY (noun)
  The noun MAY has 2 senses:

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

  Familiarity information: MAY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The month following April and preceding June

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("May" is a kind of...):

Gregorian calendar month (a month in the Gregorian calendar)

Meronyms (parts of "May"):

First of May; May 1; May Day (observed in many countries to celebrate the coming of spring; observed in Russia and related countries in honor of labor)

Mother's Day (second Sunday in May)

Armed Forces Day (the 3rd Saturday in May)

Decoration Day; Memorial Day (legal holiday in the United States, last Monday in May; commemorates the members of the United States armed forces who were killed in war)

Commonwealth Day; Empire day; May 24 (British, anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth)

mid-May (the middle part of May)

Holonyms ("May" is a part of...):

Gregorian calendar; New Style calendar (the solar calendar now in general use, introduced by Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct an error in the Julian calendar by suppressing 10 days, making Oct 5 be called Oct 15, and providing that only centenary years divisible by 400 should be leap years; it was adopted by Great Britain and the American colonies in 1752)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Crataegus laevigata; Crataegus oxycantha; English hawthorn; may; whitethorn

Hypernyms ("may" is a kind of...):

haw; hawthorn (a spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus)

Holonyms ("may" is a member of...):

Crataegus; genus Crataegus (thorny shrubs and small trees: hawthorn; thorn; thorn apple)

 Context examples 

I leave a photograph which he might care to possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, (...)

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“May I ask how you knew who I was?”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It may make our stay in this cabin more—may I say, sociable?

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

‘It’s business that may put something into your pocket,’ said the other.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He smelled around the stuffed man as if he suspected there might be a nest of rats in the straw, and he often growled in an unfriendly way at the Scarecrow.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

You might want to travel to see a good friend or to travel with one.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Her gown was what he might expect in such a house.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

We set sail from Bristol, May 4, 1699, and our voyage was at first very prosperous.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

"I might have knowed it," Bill chided himself aloud as he replaced the gun.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

You shan't stir a step, so you may just stay where you are, scolded Jo, crosser than ever, having just pricked her finger in her hurry.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)