MAXILLARY, maks'il-ar-i, _adj_. pertaining to the jawbone or jaw.--_n_. a
maxillary bone, or maxilla.--_n_. MAXILL'A, a jawbone.--_adjs_.
MAXILLIF'EROUS; MAXILL'IFORM.--_n_. MAXILL'IPEDE, in crustacea, one of
those limbs serving both for mastication and locomotion. [L. _maxilla_,
jawbone.]
MAXIM, maks'im, _n_. a general principle, serving as a rule or guide: a
pithy saying: a proverb.--_adjs_. MAX'IMAL; MAX'IMED, reduced to a
maxim.--_ns_. MAX'IMIST, MAX'IM-MONG'ER. [Fr.,--L. _maxima_ (_sententia_,
an opinion), superl. of _magnus_, great.]
MAXIM, maks'im, _n_. often put for MAX'IM-GUN, an automatic machine-gun
capable of firing as many as 620 rounds per minute, and of accurate
shooting up to 3000 yards. [From Hiram _Maxim_, the inventor.]
MAXIMUM, maks'i-mum, _adj_. the greatest.--_n_. the greatest number,
quantity, or degree: the highest point reached: (_math_.) the value of a
variable when it ceases to increase and begins to decrease:--_pl_.
MAX'IMA:--opp. to _Minimum_.--_adj_. MAX'IMAL, of the highest or maximum
value.--_adv_. MAX'IMALLY.--_v.t._ MAX'IMISE, to raise to the highest
degree. [L., superl. of _magnus_, great.]
MAY, m[=a], _v.i._ to be able: to be allowed: to be free to act: to be
possible: to be by chance: to be competent:--_pa.t._ might
(m[=i]t).--_adv_. MAY'BE, perhaps, possibly.--_n_. a possibility.--_adv_.
MAY'HAP, perhaps. [A.S. _mæg_, pr.t. of _mugan_, to be able, pa.t. _mihte_;
cog. with Goth. _magan_, Ger. _mögen_.]
MAY, m[=a], _n_. the fifth month of the year: the early or gay part of
life.--_v.i._ to gather _May_ (prov. Eng. the blossom of the hawthorn,
which blooms in May):--_pr.p._ May'ing.--_ns_. MAY'-BEE'TLE, MAY'-BUG, the
cockchafer; MAY'-BLOOM, the hawthorn flower; MAY'DAY, the first day of May;
MAY'-DEW, the dew of May, esp. that of the morning of the first day of May,
which is said to whiten linen, and to enable a face washed with it to keep
its beauty; MAY'-DUKE, a variety of sour cherry; MAY'-FLOW'ER, the
hawthorn, which blooms in May; MAY'FLY, a short-lived fly which appears in
May; MAY'-GAME, sport such as is usual on 1st May, frolic generally;
MAY'ING, the observance of Mayday sports and games; MAY'-L[=A]'DY, the
queen of the May; MAY'-LIL'Y, the lily of the valley, so called because it
blooms in May; MAY'-MORN (_Shak_.), freshness, like that of a morning in
May, vigour; MAY'POLE, a pole erected for dancing round on Mayday;
MAY'-QUEEN, a young woman crowned with flowers as queen on Mayday;
MAY'TIME, May, the season of May. [O. Fr. _Mai_--L. _Maius_ (_mensis_, a
month), sacred to _Maia_, the mother of Mercury.]