# queen

Pronunciation: say "KWEEN" /kwiːn/

## Noun

1. A woman who rules a country in her own right, or the wife or widow of a king.
   - Simple: A woman who rules a country, or a king's wife or widow.
   - _The queen ruled the nation for over fifty years._
   - _Each queen in the dynasty expanded the kingdom's borders._
3. A woman, or a thing, regarded as the finest, leading, or most powerful of its kind or in its field.
   - Simple: The best or most important woman or thing in a particular group or area.
   - _Critics crowned her the queen of contemporary jazz._
   - _For decades she reigned as the undisputed queen of fashion design._
4. A girl or woman chosen to preside in an honorary or ceremonial role over a festivity, as a prom queen or homecoming queen.
   - Simple: A girl or woman chosen to lead a celebration in a special honorary role.
   - _Voted homecoming queen, she rode at the front of the parade._
   - _The festival's queen lit the bonfire to open the celebration._
5. The reproductive female in a colony of social insects such as ants, bees, termites, or wasps.
   - Simple: A female insect that lays the eggs for a whole colony of bees, ants, or wasps.
   - _When the old queen dies, the colony raises a new one from a larva._
   - _Each hive depends on a single queen for all its offspring._
6. The most powerful chess piece, able to move any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
   - Simple: The strongest piece in chess, which can move any number of squares in a straight or slanted line.
   - _He sacrificed his queen to force checkmate two moves later._
   - _Trapping the opponent's queen early gave her a decisive edge._
7. Short for drag queen: a performer, usually a man, who entertains in flamboyant women's clothing, wigs and makeup. *(slang)* — Ellipsis of drag queen.
   - Simple: Short for drag queen: a performer, usually a man, who dresses up in showy women's clothes and makeup.
   - _Backstage, the queen adjusted her wig before the final number._
   - _Three queens headlined the cabaret that night._
8. A playing card depicting a queen, generally ranking just below the king and above the jack in its suit.
   - Simple: A playing card showing a queen, ranking below the king and above the jack.
   - _Playing the queen of spades, she dumped thirteen penalty points on her opponent._
   - _Two queens in his opening hand gave him a strong start._
9. A truly excellent woman, regarded with warm admiration.
   - Simple: A wonderful woman who deserves great respect and praise.
   - _She helped me through the hardest year of my life; she's a queen._
   - _Honestly, your best friend is a queen for organizing all of this._
10. An attractive woman; in affectionate slang, a man's female romantic partner. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for a beautiful woman, or a man's girlfriend or female partner.
   - _He posted a photo with his queen on their anniversary._
   - _Happy anniversary to my queen, the woman who still makes my heart race after ten years together._
11. The Virgin Mary, especially as honored in titles such as Queen of Heaven or Queen of Glory.
   - Simple: A title for the Virgin Mary in the Christian faith, as in Queen of Heaven.
   - _The cathedral's altar was dedicated to the Queen of Heaven._
   - _In May, the children crowned a statue of Mary as Queen of the May._
13. Slang for a gay man, especially one regarded as effeminate, often derogatory from outsiders but used warmly within gay culture.
   - Simple: A slang word for a gay man, especially one seen as feminine. It is often rude when outsiders use it.
   - _They mocked the new recruit, calling him a queen behind his back._
   - _Old letters reveal how often he was dismissed as a queen by his rivals._
15. An adult female cat that is able to breed.
   - Simple: A grown female cat that is able to have kittens.
   - _The breeder kept her best queen for the next litter._
   - _A healthy queen can produce two or three litters in a single year._
18. In the game of carrom, the red disk that is the most valuable piece.
   - Simple: The red disk worth the most points in the board game carrom.
   - _She pocketed the queen early but failed to cover it._
   - _Sinking the queen is worth more than any other piece on the board._
23. A bed or mattress of the size that falls between a full (or double) and a king. *(North American)*
   - Simple: A big bed or mattress, larger than a double but smaller than a king-size bed.
   - _The guest room fits a queen, a dresser, and not much else._
   - _She found a memory-foam queen on sale for half price._

## Adjective

2. Relating to a queen-size bed or bedding, a standard size larger than a full and smaller than a king. *(US)*
   - Simple: Being a fairly large size of bed or bedding, bigger than a full and smaller than a king.
   - _She ordered queen sheets to fit the new mattress._
   - _A queen frame fits most medium-sized bedrooms comfortably._

## Verb

12. To promote a pawn to a queen, typically when it advances to the opponent's back rank.
   - Simple: In chess, to turn a pawn into a queen when it reaches the far side.
   - _He advanced the pawn and chose to queen it for maximum power._
   - _She queened her pawn and put his king in check._
14. To make someone a queen, or figuratively to grant someone the status of a queen.
   - Simple: To make someone a queen, or to treat someone as a queen.
16. To serve as the queen bee of a colony, the female that lays nearly all of its eggs.
   - Simple: To be the queen bee of a colony, the female that lays almost all the eggs.
17. To supply a bee colony with a new queen bee.
   - Simple: To give a bee colony a new queen bee.
   - _Beekeepers often queen a struggling hive to boost its numbers._
   - _He queened the colony with a mated queen bought from a breeder._
19. To receive oral sex by sitting on someone's face, usually with one's knees on either side of their head. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To sit on someone's face to get oral sex, usually while kneeling over their head.
   - _She queened her partner slowly, watching his reactions._
   - _He asked her to queen him as part of their scene._

## Verb

20. To act the part of a queen; to behave in a haughty, imperious manner. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To act proud and bossy, the way a ruling queen might.

## Noun

21. Short for queen post: either of a pair of upright timbers in a roof truss, set between the tie beam and the rafters. *(obsolete)* — Ellipsis of queen post.
   - Simple: Short for queen post: one of a pair of upright timbers in a roof frame.
22. The lemon sole, a kind of flatfish. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A kind of flatfish, also called the lemon sole.

## Other meanings

- (noun) An orange-brown American butterfly, Danaus gilippus, with black wing borders and white spots, closely related to the monarch.
- (noun) A small edible scallop (Aequipecten opercularis) of the northeastern Atlantic.
- (noun) Short for queen olive: a large, fleshy green olive, often pitted and stuffed, eaten as a snack or used in cocktails.
- (noun) A queen apple: one of a class of apples that ripen early and have red flesh.
- (noun) A large size of roofing slate.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English quene and Old English cwēn ("queen"), tracing back through Proto-Germanic *kwēniz ("woman") to Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s ("woman"). It is related to words like Swedish kvinna and Gothic qēns ("wife"), and over time it eclipsed the borrowed Latin-derived regina.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/queen (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).