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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.
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.
a.
to endow with a widow's right.
b.
to survive as the widow of.
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Widow
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
| chat, to converse |
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
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
wid·ow·ly, adjective
un·wid·owed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To widow
Example Sentences
- 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.
- If you died young they would take care of your widow and the children.
Collins
World English Dictionary
| widow (ˈwɪdəʊ) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a woman who has survived her husband, esp one who has not remarried |
| 2. | informal (usually with a modifier) a woman whose husband frequently leaves her alone while he indulges in a sport, etc: a golf widow |
| 3. | printing Compare orphan a short line at the end of a paragraph, esp one that occurs as the top line of a page or column |
| 4. | (in some card games) an additional hand or set of cards exposed on the table |
| —vb | |
| 5. | to cause to become a widow |
| 6. | to deprive of something valued or desirable |
| [Old English widuwe; related to German Witwe, Latin vidua (feminine of viduus deprived), Sanskrit vidhavā] | |
| 'widowhood | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
widow
O.E. widewe, widuwe, from P.Gmc. *widewo (cf. O.S. widowa, O.Fris. widwe, M.Du., Du. weduwe, Du. weeuw, O.H.G. wituwa, Ger. Witwe, Goth. widuwo), from PIE adj. *widhewo (cf. Skt. vidhuh "lonely, solitary," vidhava "widow;" Avestan vithava, L. vidua, O.C.S. vidova, Rus. vdova, O.Ir. fedb, Welsh guedeu
EXPAND"widow;" Pers. beva, Gk. eitheos "unmarried man;" L. viduus "bereft, void"), from base *weidh- "to separate" (cf. second element in L. 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. The verb is attested from c.1300. Widower is first attested mid-14c. 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 ref. to the long black tail feathers of the males, suggestive of widows' veils.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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