Definition of "may" [may]

• To be allowed or permitted to: May I take a swim? Yes, you may. (auxiliary-verb)
• Used to indicate a certain measure of likelihood or possibility: It may rain this afternoon. (auxiliary-verb)
• Used to express a desire or fervent wish: Long may he live! (auxiliary-verb)
• Used to express contingency, purpose, or result in clauses introduced by that or so that: expressing ideas so that the average person may understand. (auxiliary-verb)
• To be obliged; must. Used in statutes, deeds, and other legal documents. See Usage Note at can1. (auxiliary-verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "While it may provide some immediate easing of the pain and that's a big *may* this is only delaying the inevitable."
• "Unless there are any other myths I can dispel, lemme sign off with the reminder that while the feds and/or the state may *may* end up kicking in a share via the enterprise or empowerment zones, the beneficiaries of this deal will not only be these poverty-wage workers, but all of Los Angeles, as lowered poverty brings lowered crime, safer communities, stronger families, less drug use, fewer public health expenditures and more effective schools."
• "I think WoW's a hot virus -- it'll burn fast and two years from now WoW may be a ghost town *may* be."