Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Widow

Wid′ow

(wĭd′ō̍)
,
Noun.
[OE.
widewe
,
widwe
, AS.
weoduwe
,
widuwe
,
wuduwe
; akin to OFries.
widwe
, OS.
widowa
, D.
weduwe
, G.
wittwe
,
witwe
, OHG.
wituwa
,
witawa
, Goth.
widuwō
, Russ.
udova
, OIr.
fedb
, W.
gweddw
, L.
vidua
, Skr.
vidhavā
; and probably to Skr.
vidh
to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr.
ἡίθεοσ
a bachelor. √248. Cf.
Vidual
.]
A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband.
“A poor widow.”
Chaucer.
Grass widow
.
See under
Grass
.
Widow bewitched
,
a woman separated from her husband; a grass widow.
[Colloq.]
Widow-in-mourning
(Zool.)
,
the macavahu.
Widow monkey
(Zool.)
,
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.

Wid′ow

,
Adj.
Widowed.
“A widow woman.”
1 Kings xvii. 9.
“This widow lady.”
Shak.

Wid′ow

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Widowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Widowing
.]
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.
Shakespeare
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.
Dryden.
Tress of their shriveled fruits
Are
widowed
, dreary storms o'er all prevail.
J. Philips.
Mourn,
widowed
queen; forgotten Sion, mourn.
Heber.
3.
To endow with a widow's right.
[R.]
Shak.
4.
To become, or survive as, the widow of.
[Obs.]
Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and
widow

them all
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Widow

WIDOW

,
Noun.
[L. See Wide.] A woman who has lost her husband by death. Luke 2.
Widows chamber, in London, the apparel and furniture of the bed-chamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she is entitled.

WIDOW

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To bereave of a husband; but rarely used except in the participle.
2.
To endow with a widows right. [Unusual.]
3.
To strip of any thing good.
The widowd isle in mourning--

Definition 2024


widow

widow

English

Noun

widow (plural widows)

  1. A woman whose husband has died (and who has not remarried); feminine of widower.
  2. (informal, in combination) A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a sport, etc.
  3. An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.
  4. (printing) A single line of type that ends a paragraph, carried over to the next page or column.
  5. A venomous spider, of the genus Latrodectus.

Related terms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

widow (third-person singular simple present widows, present participle widowing, simple past and past participle widowed)

  1. (transitive) To make a widow (or widower) of someone; to cause the death of one's spouse.