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Maypole

American

[mey-pohl] / ˈmeɪˌpoʊl /

noun

(often lowercase)

a tall pole, decorated with flowers and ribbons, around which people dance or engage in sports during May Day celebrations.

maypole British

/ ˈmeɪˌpəʊl /

noun

a tall pole fixed upright in an open space during May-Day celebrations, around which people dance holding streamers attached at its head

"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

Etymology

Origin of Maypole

First recorded in 1545–55; May + pole ¹

Vocabulary lists containing maypole

Excerpt from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

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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.

That said, “it’s a work in progress,” said Jack Maypole, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and father to three.

From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2020

T-shirts -- swarmed around the grinning golfer as if he were a Maypole.

From Golf Digest • Apr. 2, 2013

I'm unsure why he gave up managing the Maypole shop to become a Kleen-e-ze man.

From The Guardian • Jun. 15, 2012

Saturday-Sunday, Maypole dance and May Queen, 4:30 p.m.; lunch available noon-3 p.m., dinner banquet, 6 p.m.

From Seattle Times • May 2, 2012

By the time I had celebrated my twelfth birthday back on December 7, 1953, I'd believed I had put aside my hurt over being left out of all the Maypole dances forever.

From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023