May and Penny, I see, meeting society contenders (10)

I believe the answer is:

candidates

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'contenders' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'may and penny i see meeting society' is the wordplay.
'may' becomes 'can' (synonyms).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'penny' becomes 'd' (abbreviation e.g. Lsd - pounds, shillings, pence).
'see meeting society' becomes 'dates' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'can'+'d'+'i'+'dates'='CANDIDATES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for candidates that I've seen before include "those awaiting interview?" , "Entrants" .)

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