widow

[wid-oh] /ˈwɪd oʊ/
noun
1.
a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not remarried.
2.
Cards. an additional hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table.
3.
Printing.
  1. a short last line of a paragraph, especially one less than half of the full measure or one consisting of only a single word.
  2. the last line of a paragraph when it is carried over to the top of the following page away from the rest of the paragraph.
    Compare orphan (def 4).
4.
a woman often left alone because her husband devotes his free time to a hobby or sport (used in combination).
Compare golf widow.
verb (used with object)
5.
to make (someone) a widow:
She was widowed by the war.
6.
to deprive of anything cherished or needed:
A surprise attack widowed the army of its supplies.
7.
Obsolete.
  1. to endow with a widow's right.
  2. to survive as the widow of.
Origin
before 900; (noun) Middle English wid(e)we, Old English widuwe, wydewe; cognate with German Witwe, Gothic widuwo, Latin vidua (feminine of viduus bereaved), Sanskrit vidhavā widow; (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun
Related forms
widowly, adjective
unwidowed, adjective
Can be confused
widow, widower.
Examples from the web for widow
  • The lady was sketching in charcoal the head of her future husband, although she wore no widow's veil.
  • Delany started this project as a widow in her eighth decade.
  • Someday, in a house next door, a robot may be playing a game of cribbage with an elderly widow.
  • Press coverage was extensive but muted, after the widow stated that she respected the verdict.
  • The landlady, who lived next door, was a widow in her seventies.
  • Upon accepting the honor in his absence, his widow kissed the plaque then held it to the heavens.
  • His widow decided to donate his organs to seven different people.
  • His widow later said he had suffered from depression for years.
  • His widow said he easily could have worked a day if that was what it took to activate the new policy.
  • But he always settled on a single widow and shut his eyes to the rest of the field.
British Dictionary definitions for widow

widow

/ˈwɪdəʊ/
noun
1.
a woman who has survived her husband, esp one who has not remarried
2.
(usually with a modifier) (informal) a woman whose husband frequently leaves her alone while he indulges in a sport, etc: a golf widow
3.
(printing) a short line at the end of a paragraph, esp one that occurs as the top line of a page or column Compare orphan (sense 3)
4.
(in some card games) an additional hand or set of cards exposed on the table
verb (transitive; usually passive)
5.
to cause to become a widow or a widower
6.
to deprive of something valued or desirable
Derived Forms
widowhood, noun
Word Origin
Old English widuwe; related to German Witwe, Latin vidua (feminine of viduus deprived), Sanskrit vidhavā
Word Origin and History for widow
n.

Old English widewe, widuwe, from Proto-Germanic *widewo (cf. Old Saxon widowa, Old Frisian widwe, Middle Dutch, Dutch weduwe, Dutch weeuw, Old High German wituwa, German Witwe, Gothic widuwo), from PIE adj. *widhewo (cf. Sanskrit vidhuh "lonely, solitary," vidhava "widow;" Avestan vithava, Latin vidua, Old Church Slavonic vidova, Russian vdova, Old Irish fedb, Welsh guedeu "widow;" Persian beva, Greek eitheos "unmarried man;" Latin viduus "bereft, void"), from root *weidh- "to separate" (cf. second element in Latin di-videre "to divide;" see with).

As a prefix to a name, attested from 1570s. Meaning "short line of type" (especially at the top of a column) is 1904 print shop slang. Widow's mite is from Mark xii:43. Widow's peak is from the belief that hair growing to a point on the forehead is an omen of early widowhood, suggestive of the "peak" of a widow's hood. Widow maker "anything lethally dangerous" first recorded 1945, originally among loggers, in reference to dead trees, etc. The widow bird (1747) so-called in reference to the long black tail feathers of the males, suggestive of widows' veils.

v.

c.1300; see widow (n.). Related: Widowed; widowing.

Slang definitions & phrases for widow

widow

noun
  1. A short line of type, esp an isolated one at the top of a column or page (1904+ Print shop & publishing)
  2. A spare hand dealt in certain card games (1891+ Cardplaying)
Related Terms

golf widow, grass widow


Idioms and Phrases with widow

widow

see: grass widow