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  • Maypole
    Maypole
    noun
    a tall pole, decorated with flowers and ribbons, around which people dance or engage in sports during May Day celebrations.
  • maypole
    maypole
    noun
    a tall pole fixed upright in an open space during May-Day celebrations, around which people dance holding streamers attached at its head

Maypole

American  
[may-pohl] / ˈmeɪˌpoʊl /

noun

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


maypole British  
/ ˈmeɪˌpəʊl /

noun

  1. 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

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.

See Examples For:

I added colorful leis and flowers to create a Maypole vibe.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 24, 2020

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

A gilded Maypole had been set up in the river gardens on a square of turf which was enclosed by the famous Provencal rose bushes, already tipped with coral buds.

From The Guardian ● May 21, 2012

One day in early April, during recess, Mrs. Butler ushered us outside on the playground and measured us for the Maypole dance.

From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals

The group worked with local straw craft workers to produce large straw maypole toppers which were then used as part of the set.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025

I detailed my near-worship of “A Time to Keep,” my attempts to replicate the Pumpkin House of “The Dolls’ Christmas,” the wonky maypole I had rigged up in the yard.

From New York Times ● May 25, 2024

The traditional Scandinavian holiday of Midsummer welcomes it with maypole dancing, drinking, and romance.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 19, 2023

First Lady Lou Hoover tried to solve the problem in 1929 by focusing the event on folk dancing, including maypole, Swedish, English, and Native American dances, all performed by Girl Scouts.

From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2023

There was the Distaff Dance, a maypole without men, held in the spring.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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