widow
a woman who has lost her spouse by death and has not remarried.
Cards. an additional hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table.
Printing.
a short last line of a paragraph, especially one less than half of the full measure or one consisting of only a single word.
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).
a woman often left alone because her husband devotes his free time to a hobby or sport (used in combination).: Compare golf widow.
to make (someone) a widow: She was widowed by the war.
to deprive of anything cherished or needed: A surprise attack widowed the army of its supplies.
Obsolete.
to endow with a widow's right.
to survive as the widow of.
Origin of widow
1Other words from widow
- wid·ow·ly, adjective
Words that may be confused with widow
- widow , widower
Words Nearby widow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use widow in a sentence
Since becoming a widow, Mahira has been living alone with her children in a small village in Mewat, Haryana.
Three Women: Stories Of Indian Trafficked Brides | LGBTQ-Editor | October 5, 2020 | No Straight NewsMel Kahn, a Florida widower, asked for the property tax exemption that state law allowed only to widows.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Helped Shape The Modern Era Of Women’s Rights – Even Before She Went On The Supreme Court | LGBTQ-Editor | September 21, 2020 | No Straight NewsGinsburg represented widower Stephen Wiesenfeld in challenging a Social Security Act provision that provided parental benefits only to widows with minor children.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Helped Shape The Modern Era Of Women’s Rights – Even Before She Went On The Supreme Court | LGBTQ-Editor | September 21, 2020 | No Straight NewsThanks to a new, substantially funded initiative led by his widow, Denise Bradley-Tyson, and the American Heart Association, Bernard Tyson’s work and message have been given an afterlife.
Bernard Tyson’s profound impact continues even after his death—through a new social investment fund | cleaf2013 | September 16, 2020 | FortuneBenedict’s husband would die of a heart attack—which also allowed her, as a widow, to move toward a tenured professorship at Columbia, something denied to married women at the time.
That was accomplished by cops such as the one whose picture was clutched so tightly by his widow on Sunday.
How many will be there for the young widow of Wenjian Liu, married only two months?
Any Outrage Out There for Ramos and Liu, Protesters? | Mike Barnicle | December 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLiu had been married just two months before and his wife now stood in this Brooklyn hospital, a sudden widow because of a madman.
Marjorie Wilkes Huntley was a New Age feminist, a widow, and a librarian.
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine | Tom Arnold-Forster | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAround Passover 2011, Dalia, who is now 40, had just lost her husband and was suddenly a single widow with four songs.
The Sisterhood of Bulletproof Stockings: It’s Ladies’ Night for Hasidic Rockers | Emily Shire | September 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDo not the widow's tears run down the cheek, and her cry against him that causeth them to fall?
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousSometimes it was a young girl, again a widow; but as often as not it was some interesting married woman.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinJoan Boughton, a widow, was burned for heresy; said to be the first female martyr of England.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellLearn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousThe cow happily recovered, which the widow entirely attributed to the efficacy of her pastor's prayer.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | Various
British Dictionary definitions for widow
/ (ˈwɪdəʊ) /
a woman who has survived her husband, esp one who has not remarried
(usually with a modifier) informal a woman whose husband frequently leaves her alone while he indulges in a sport, etc: a golf widow
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 (def. 3)
(in some card games) an additional hand or set of cards exposed on the table
to cause to become a widow or a widower
to deprive of something valued or desirable
Origin of widow
1Derived forms of widow
- widowhood, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with widow
see grass widow.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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