may't

Verb

may (third-person singular simple present may, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)

1. (intransitive, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete) To be strong; to have power (over).
2. (auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete) To be able; can.
   • But many times[…]we give way to passions we may resist and will not.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II...
3. (intransitive, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, poetic) To be able to go.
   • O weary night, O long and tedious night,
     Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East,
     That I may backe to Athens by day-light […].1600, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, III.3
4. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.
   • you may smoke outside

   Synonyms:

   can, could, might

5. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Expressing a present possibility; possibly.
   • he may be lying

   Synonyms:

   could, might

6. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements.
   • You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.

   Synonyms:

   might

See all 24 meanings of may