widow

American  

[wid-oh] / ˈwɪd oʊ /

noun

• widows
  plural

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.

4. a woman often left alone because her husband devotes his free time to a hobby or sport (used in combination).

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verb (used with object)

widowed, widowing

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 British  

/ 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

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verb

1. to cause to become a widow or a widower

2. to deprive of something valued or desirable

widow Idioms  

1. see grass widow.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• widowhood
  noun
• widowly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• widows
  plural

Etymology

Origin of widow

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

Explanation

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. If your uncle dies, your aunt will become a widow. If a person's spouse dies, that person is referred to as either a widow or — in the case of a man whose wife dies — a widower. In most cases, people stop using the word widow if the woman marries again. Back in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was common to use widow as a prefix to a woman's name, instead of "Mrs." The Indo-European root word of widow means "be empty."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

widow widows widowed widowing

Here, two women—one the daughter of the owner, the other the widow of the owner’s son—play badminton.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Next steps: It may feel morbid to plan for life as a widow or widower, but smart advance tax-planning strategies mean facing the “what-ifs.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Field had been considered the sentimental favorite in the highly competitive category for her role as Tova Sullivan, a lonely widow who forms a deep bond with an octopus at the aquarium where she works.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

Tom Strada's widow Terry, the national chair of 9/11 Families United, said in her remarks.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

“My dear lord,” she said, “you who are father and mother and brother unto me as well as husband, stay here with us. Do not make me a widow and your child an orphan.”

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Ambrositsch, for example, is proud that her heuriger brings together "19-year-old hipsters and 91-year-old widows" at the same table.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

Yet many of these widows, daughters, and other female successors were also savvy political operators, leaving behind genuine legislative legacies or winning office in their own right.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

Spouses and widows of veterans got 10 points.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

The scandal is especially egregious because widows and widowers are disproportionately among the poorest elders.

From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026

Why does this phrase make us think of insincere widows? sickening thud.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

In short, the widowed taxpayer often faces a double whammy: Income often falls while tax rates increase.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Cecily Craig, 71, lives a short walk away from her centenarian widowed mother at Park Pointe Village in Rock Hill, S.C., each in their own apartment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

At the funeral, alongside Prince William, will be the widowed Queen Sonja, members of the Norwegian royal family including new King Haakon VIII, and other European royals.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Now aged 87, Indumati Thapa's life revolves around a group of similarly widowed women.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Joyce had come to Stamps to live with a widowed aunt who was even poorer than the poorest person in town.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

In 2015 she became a symbol of heartbreaking grief when Goldberg died while working out on vacation, widowing her with two children as she continued to help run one of the world’s best-known companies.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2022

Compared with other singletons, people who were single as a result of divorce or widowing had a three times and six times greater risk, respectively.

From Time Magazine Archive

He kept continually in his hand a polished, oval, white carnelian, the gift of his widowing love, and at times it seemed his only consolation, the only thing left him in this world clearly tangible.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 66, April, 1863 by Various

The days that followed the widowing rites passed strangely for Dorama.

From The Outcaste by F. E. Penny

Sooba was gratified by the performance of the widowing ceremonies; he felt to a certain degree revenged upon his unfortunate nephew.

From The Outcaste by F. E. Penny