Meaning & use
mayday
Last updated
An internationally recognized distress call used to signal a life-threatening emergency, especially by ships and aircraft.
See it in a sentence
The pilot radioed 'mayday, mayday' moments before the emergency landing.
Rescuers responded immediately after picking up the boat's mayday signal.
A note on using this word
Comes from the French 'venez m'aider' ('come help me'); repeated three times in real distress calls to avoid confusion with similar-sounding words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mayday”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.