Widow
Widow (wid"o) , noun
[Old English widewe, widwe, Anglo-Saxon weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, Old Saxon widowa, Dutch weduwe, German wittwe, witwe, Old High German wituwa, witawa, Gothic widuwō, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, Welsh gweddw, Latin vidua, Sanskrit vidhavā; and probably to Sanskrit vidh to be empty, to lack; compare Greek "hi`qeos a bachelor. r248. Compare Vidual.]
A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband.
A poor widow.
2.
(Card Playing) In various games (such as “hearts”), any extra hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table. It may be taken by one of the players under certain circumstances.
Collocations (5)
Grass widow , See under Grass.
Widow bewitched , a woman separated from her husband; a grass widow. [Colloquial]
Widow-in-mourning (Zoology) , the macavahu.
Widow monkey (Zoology) , a small South American monkey (Callithrix lugens); -- so called on account of its color, which is black except the dull whitish arms, neck, and face, and a ring of pure white around the face.
Widow's chamber (Eng. Law) , in London, the apparel and furniture of the bedchamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she was formerly entitled.
Widow , adjective
Widowed.
A widow woman.
This widow lady.
Widow , transitive verb
1.
To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle.
Though in thus city he
Hath widowed and unchilded many a one,
Which to this hour bewail the injury.
2.
To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave.
The widowed isle, in mourning,
Dries up her tears.
Tress of their shriveled fruits
Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail.
Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn.
3.
To endow with a widow's right. [Rare] — Shakespeare
4.
To become, or survive as, the widow of. [Obsolete]
Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and widow
them all.