widow

[ wid-oh ]

noun

1. a woman who has lost her spouse 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)

, wid·owed, wid·ow·ing.

1. to make (someone) a widow:

   She was widowed by the war.

2. to deprive of anything cherished or needed:

   A surprise attack widowed the army of its supplies.

3. Obsolete.
   1. to endow with a widow's right.
   2. to survive as the widow of.

widow

/ ˈwɪdəʊ /

noun

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 a short line at the end of a paragraph, esp one that occurs as the top line of a page or column Compare orphan
4. (in some card games) an additional hand or set of cards exposed on the table

verb

1. to cause to become a widow or a widower
2. to deprive of something valued or desirable

Derived Forms

• ˈwidowhood, noun

Other Words From

• wid·ow·ly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of widow¹

First recorded 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”; (verb) Middle English, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of widow¹

Old English widuwe; related to German Witwe, Latin vidua (feminine of viduus deprived), Sanskrit vidhavā

Idioms and Phrases

see grass widow .

Example Sentences

A teen, Karin, is left by her ne’er-do-well widowed father in the care of her grandfather at a temple.

From Los Angeles Times

The wife of a motorcyclist who could have been saved after a crash, had it not been for an ambulance delay, has spoken of her pain at being a widow aged 28.

From BBC

He recalled widows who described themselves as “survivors” because they needed to apply for survivor benefits for the first time.

From Salon

The widow of one veteran who had died of multiple cancers obtained her late husband’s personnel records, hoping the medical records would help with her claim for a war pension.

From BBC

The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has urged thousands of supporters marching through central Berlin to continue their protests against President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

From BBC