queen

KWEEN/kwiːn/

28 meanings of queen

1
female rulernouncountable
A woman who rules a country, or a king's wife or widow.
Like a king, but a woman, who sits at the very top and rules the whole country.
The queen signed the new law this week.
Many people gathered to see the queen open parliament.
UsageWrite Queen with a capital before a name.
Similarmonarch, sovereign, ruler
Oppositeking
Note
2
bed sizeadjectiveUScountablebefore a noun
Being a fairly large size of bed or bedding, bigger than a full and smaller than a king.
They bought a queen mattress for the guest room.
The hotel room had a comfortable queen bed by the window.
UsageSay queen sheets or queen-size sheets.
Similarqueen-size, queen-sized
3
top one (field)nouncountable
The best or most important woman or thing in a particular group or area.
Like the top student that everyone in the class looks up to.
She is the queen of mystery novels in our country.
Many fans call her the queen of pop music.
UsageSay the queen of pop.
Similardoyenne, star, icon
4
chosen for eventnouncountable
A girl or woman chosen to lead a celebration in a special honorary role.
She was picked as the queen of the school dance.
Every spring the town names a young queen to lead the parade.
UsageSay prom queen.
5
colony mothernouncountable
A female insect that lays the eggs for a whole colony of bees, ants, or wasps.
Like the one mother in a huge family who has all the babies while everyone else does the work.
The queen lays thousands of eggs inside the hive.
Worker bees feed and protect their queen.
6
chess piecenouncountable
The strongest piece in chess, which can move any number of squares in a straight or slanted line.
Like a player on a team who is allowed to run in any direction, as far as they want.
She moved her queen across the board to attack the king.
A queen is worth more than any other piece.
Note
7
nounslangabbreviationellipsis
Short for drag queen: a performer, usually a man, who dresses up in showy women's clothes and makeup.
The queen sashayed across the stage in a sequined gown.
Every queen at the club lip-synced to the crowd's favorite songs.
Note
8
playing cardnouncountable
A playing card showing a queen, ranking below the king and above the jack.
She drew the queen of hearts from the deck.
He needed one more queen to complete the set.
UsageSay the queen of hearts.
Note
9
nouncountable
A wonderful woman who deserves great respect and praise.
Thank you so much for everything. You're a real queen!
My grandma is an absolute queen.
UsageSay you're a queen to praise a friend.
Similarstar, legend, gem, angel
10
romantic partnernounslangcountable
A slang word for a beautiful woman, or a man's girlfriend or female partner.
He smiled and called his girlfriend his queen.
She's my queen, and I'd do anything for her.
UsageSay my queen for a girlfriend or wife.
Similargirlfriend, partner, beauty, babe
Note

Less common meanings

11
Virgin Marynouncountable
A title for the Virgin Mary in the Christian faith, as in Queen of Heaven.
The faithful prayed to the Queen of Heaven for mercy.
Hymns at the shrine honored her as the gentle Queen of Heaven.
Note
12
promote pawnverbtransitive
In chess, to turn a pawn into a queen when it reaches the far side.
She pushed her pawn forward to queen it next turn.
If you queen that pawn, you'll win the game easily.
UsageSay queen a pawn.
Similarpromote
Note
13
gay man (insult)nounderogatorycountable
A slang word for a gay man, especially one seen as feminine. It is often rude when outsiders use it.
He flinched at being called a queen in front of his coworkers.
The bullies sneered and called him a queen as he walked past.
Similarfairy, pansy, sissy, poof
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14
put on throneverbtransitive
To make someone a queen, or to treat someone as a queen.
Similarcrown, enthrone
Oppositedethrone, depose
Note
15
female catnouncountable
A grown female cat that is able to have kittens.
The queen gave birth to five healthy kittens overnight.
Their queen needs extra cat food while she is nursing her kittens.
UsageFor a pet, say female cat.
Oppositetom
Note
16
head the hiveverbtransitive
To be the queen bee of a colony, the female that lays almost all the eggs.
The nucleus should not be queened by a queen from any of the parent colonies.
1957, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (India), The Wealth of India
They have all been queened by imported stock, or the best of home-bred mothers.
1882, E. L. Briggs, “Development of ‘The Coming Bee’”
Similarhead, lead, rule
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17
supply a hiveverbtransitive
To give a bee colony a new queen bee.
The beekeeper will queen the hive again next week.
They queened the colony after its old queen died.
Oppositedequeen
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18
nouncountable
The red disk worth the most points in the board game carrom.
He sank the queen with one clean shot.
You must cover the queen to keep its points.
19
sex actverbslangvulgartransitive
To sit on someone's face to get oral sex, usually while kneeling over their head.
She queened him until he tapped out.
He let his partner queen him on the bed.
Similarface-sit
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20
verbobsoleteintransitive
To act proud and bossy, the way a ruling queen might.
Note
21
roof postnounobsoleteabbreviationellipsis
Short for queen post: one of a pair of upright timbers in a roof frame.
Note
22
nounobsolete
A kind of flatfish, also called the lemon sole.
Note
23
nounNorth Americancountablenorth american
A big bed or mattress, larger than a double but smaller than a king-size bed.
We bought a new queen because our old double bed was too small.
Our hotel room had two queens, so the kids each got a bed.
UsageShort for queen-size bed.
Note
24
noun
A kind of butterfly, orange and black, that is closely related to the monarch.
25
noun
A small scallop that people eat, found in northern seas.
26
noun
Short for queen olive: a large green olive, often stuffed and eaten as a snack.
27
nounrare
An apple that ripens early and has red flesh, also called a queen apple.
28
noun
A large slate used to cover roofs.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Old English cwēn, which goes back to older Germanic and Indo-European words meaning "wife" or "woman."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Queen derives from Old English cwēn, ultimately from Germanic and Indo-European words meaning wife or woman. en.wiktionary.org