mai

n. (Zool.) Any spider crab of the genus Maia, or family Maiadae. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Shortened from maiden. &unr_;. See Maiden. ] 1. An unmarried woman; usually, a young unmarried woman; esp., a girl; a virgin; a maiden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Would I had died a maid,
And never seen thee, never borne thee son. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me. Jer. ii. 32. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A man who has not had sexual intercourse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Christ was a maid and shapen as a man. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A female servant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spinning amongst her maids. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Maid is used either adjectively or in composition, signifying female, as in maid child, maidservant. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) The female of a ray or skate, esp. of the gray skate (Raia batis), and of the thornback (Raia clavata). [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Fair maid. (Zool.) See under Fair, a. --
Maid of honor, a female attendant of a queen or royal princess; -- usually of noble family, and having to perform only nominal or honorary duties. --
Old maid. See under Old. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Written also midan, meidan, mydan, etc. ] [ Hind. & Per. maidān, fr. Ar. maidān. ] In various parts of Asia, an open space, as for military exercises, or for a market place; an open grassy tract; an esplanade.

A gallop on the green maidan. M. Crawford. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. maiden, meiden, AS. maegden, dim. of AS. maegð, fr. mago son, servant; akin to G. magd, mädchen, maid, OHG. magad, Icel. mögr son, Goth. magus boy, child, magaps virgin, and perh. to Zend. magu youth. Cf. Maid a virgin. ] 1. An unmarried woman; a girl or woman who has not experienced sexual intercourse; a virgin; a maid. [ 1913 Webster ]

She employed the residue of her life to repairing of highways, building of bridges, and endowing of maidens. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]

A maiden of our century, yet most meek. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A female servant. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A machine for washing linen. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to a maiden, or to maidens; suitable to, or characteristic of, a virgin; as, maiden innocence. “Amid the maiden throng.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Have you no modesty, no maiden shame ? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Never having been married; not having had sexual intercourse; virgin; -- said usually of the woman, but sometimes of the man; as, a maiden aunt. “A surprising old maiden lady.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused. “Maiden flowers.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Full bravely hast thou fleshed
Thy maiden sword. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Used of a fortress, signifying that it has never been captured, or violated. T. Warton. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Maiden assize (Eng. Law), an assize which there is no criminal prosecution; an assize which is unpolluted with blood. It was usual, at such an assize, for the sheriff to present the judge with a pair of white gloves. Smart. --
Maiden name, the surname of a woman before her marriage. --
Maiden pink. (Bot.) See under Pink. --
Maiden plum (Bot.), a West Indian tree (Comocladia integrifolia) with purplish drupes. The sap of the tree is glutinous, and gives a persistent black stain. --
Maiden speech, the first speech made by a person, esp. by a new member in a public body. --
Maiden tower, the tower most capable of resisting an enemy. --
maiden voyage the first regular service voyage of a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To act coyly like a maiden; -- with it as an indefinite object. [ 1913 Webster ]

For had I maiden'd it, as many use.
Loath for to grant, but loather to refuse. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

Maiden grass, the smaller quaking grass. --
Maiden tree. See Ginkgo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Literally, an aunt who has never been married. Figuratively, it is a term used as the prototype of a person who is broadly naive and not wise in worldly ways; as, he knows as much about programming as my maiden aunt. [ PJC ]

n. A small widely branching Western wildflower (Collinsia parviflora) with tiny blue-and-white flowers; found from British Columbia to Ontaria and south to California and Colorado. [ WordNet 1.5 ]