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  • mayflower
    mayflower
    noun
    any of various plants that blossom in May, such as the hepatica or anemone in the United States, and the hawthorn or cowslip in England.
  • Mayflower
    Mayflower
    noun
    the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth to Massachusetts in 1620

mayflower

American  
[mey-flou-er] / ˈmeɪˌflaʊ ər /

noun

  1. any of various plants that blossom in May, such as the hepatica or anemone in the United States, and the hawthorn or cowslip in England.

  2. trailing arbutus.

  3. Mayflower, the ship in which the Pilgrims sailed from Southampton, England, to North America in 1620.


Mayflower 1 British  
/ ˈmeɪˌflaʊə /

noun

  1. the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth to Massachusetts in 1620

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

mayflower 2 British  
/ ˈmeɪˌflaʊə /

noun

  1. any of various plants that bloom in May

  2. another name for trailing arbutus

  3. another name for hawthorn cowslip marsh marigold

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Mayflower Cultural  
  1. The ship that carried the Pilgrims to America. It made a permanent landing near Plymouth Rock in 1620, after the Pilgrims had agreed to the Mayflower Compact.


Etymology

Origin of mayflower

First recorded in 1560–70; May + flower

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“We used to be in a world where we built really expensive, heavy hardware and it was like waving goodbye to the Mayflower when it launched,” said the Army’s Evans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

The country's current record high for June rests at 35.6C, set in Southampton's Mayflower Park in 1957 and met again at Camden Square in North London in 1976.

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2025

On Thursday, Savage equated it to the Colts leaving Baltimore in Mayflower trucks over 40 years ago.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2025

His father had arrived in Plymouth on a ship called the Anne a few years after the Mayflower.

From Slate • Nov. 28, 2024

In consequence, as Smith later crowed, the hapless Mayflower spent several frigid weeks scouting around Cape Cod for a good place to land, during which time many colonists became sick and died.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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