May and Penny, I see, meeting society contenders (10)
I believe the answer is:
candidates
'contenders' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'may and penny i see meeting society' is the wordplay.
'may' becomes 'can' (synonyms).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'penny' becomes 'd' (abbreviation e.g. Lsd - pounds, shillings, pence).
'see meeting society' becomes 'dates' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure 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" .)