English

Alternative forms

• widow maker, widowmaker

Noun

widow-maker ‎(plural widow-makers)

1. (idiomatic) Something which or someone who takes the lives of men; a lethal hazard that affects mostly men or is specific for some trade, occupied mostly by men.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, King John, act 5, scene 2:

     O, it grieves my soul,

     That I must draw this metal from my side

     To be a widow-maker!

   • 1906, Rudyard Kipling, "Harp Song of the Dane Women":

     What is a woman that you forsake her,

     And the hearth-fire and the home-acre,

     To go with the old grey Widow-maker?

   • 1973, Peter F. Drucker, Management: tasks, responsibilities, practices, published 1999, page 316:

     Finally, jobs that are 'widow-makers' should be rethought and restructured. In the heyday of the great sailing ships, around 1850, just before the coming of steam, every shipping company had a widow-maker on its hands once in a while. ... One typical 'widow-maker' has been the job of international vice-president in the large American company.

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