memorial day
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- legal holiday in the United States, last Monday in May; commemorates the members of the United States armed forces who were killed in warSynonyms: Decoration DayType of legal holiday, national holidayPart of May
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
1. A day, originally May 30, appointed for commemorating, by decorating their graves with flowers, by patriotic exercises, etc., the dead soldiers and sailors who served the Civil War (1861-65) in the United States; Also called Decoration Day. It is a legal holiday in most of the States. In the Southern States, the Confederate Memorial Day is: May 30 in Virginia; April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in North Carolina and South Carolina; the second Friday in May in Tennessee; June 3 in Louisiana. US
2. A day designated for commemoration of all of the war dead of the United States, celebrated on the last Monday in May in most states. It supersedes the original Memorial Day celebrated May 30th.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: 1913 supplement, GCIDE editors