kwi:n n. & v. --n. 1 (as a
title usu. Queen) a
female sovereign etc.,
esp.
the hereditary ruler of an
independent State. 2 (in full queen consort) a king's
wife. 3 a
woman,
country, or
thing pre-eminent or
supreme in a specified
area or of
its kind (tennis queen; the queen of roses). 4 the
fertile female
among ants, bees, etc. 5 the
most powerful piece in
chess. 6 a
court card
with a
picture of a queen. 7 sl. a
male homosexual, esp. an
effeminate one. 8 a an honoured female, e.g. the
Virgin Mary (Queen of Heaven). b an ancient
goddess (Venus, Queen of love). 9 a
belle or
mock sovereign on
some occasion (beauty queen; queen of the May). 10 a person's
sweetheart, wife, or
mistress. 11 (the Queen) (in the UK) the
national anthem when there is a female sovereign. --v.tr. 1
make (a woman) queen. 2 Chess
convert (a pawn)
into a queen when it reaches the opponent's
side of the
board. øQueen-Anne in the
style of
English architecture,
furniture, etc., in or
about Queen Anne's
time, the
early 18th c. Queen Anne's
lace cow-parsley. queen
bee 1 the fertile female in a
hive. 2 the
chief or controlling woman in an
organization or
social group. queen-cake a
small soft cake often with raisins etc. queen
dowager the
widow of a
king. queen it
play the queen. queen
mother the dowager
who is mother of the sovereign. queen of the meadows
meadowsweet. queen of puddings a
pudding made with
bread,
jam,
and meringue. queen-post one of
two upright timbers
between the tie-beam and
principal rafters of a roof-truss. Queen's
bench see BENCH. queen's
bishop,
knight , etc. Chess (of pieces
which exist in pairs) the piece
starting on the queen's side of the board. Queen's
bounty see BOUNTY. Queen's
colour see COLOUR. Queen's
Counsel see COUNSEL. the Queen's English see ENGLISH. Queen's
evidence see EVIDENCE. Queen's
Guide see GUIDE. Queen's
highway see HIGHWAY. queen-size (or -sized) of an extra-large size, usu. smaller
than king-size. Queen's
Messenger see MESSENGER. queen's pawn Chess the pawn in
front of the queen at the
beginning of a game. Queen's
Proctor see PROCTOR. Queen's Scout see
SCOUT(1). Queen's
speech see SPEECH. queen's-ware cream-coloured
Wedgwood. øøqueendom n. queenhood n. queenless adj. queenlike adj. queenship n. [OE cwen f. Gmc;
cf. QUEAN]
