definitions

widow

[ wid-oh ]
/ ˈwɪd oʊ /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR widow ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.
  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.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.

verb (used with object), wid·owed, wid·ow·ing.

RELATED WORDS

eligible, only, unattended, single, unaccompanied, solo, bachelor, sole, unattached, unwed, abandoned, deserted, desolate, detached, forlorn, forsaken, friendless, hermit, individual, isolated

Nearby words

widgeon, widget, widgie, widish, widnes, widow, widow bird, widow woman, widow's benefit, widow's cruse, widow's mite

Origin of widow

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; (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun

Related forms

wid·ow·ly, adjectiveun·wid·owed, adjective

Can be confused

widow widower
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for widowed

British Dictionary definitions for widowed

widow

/ (ˈwɪdəʊ) /

noun

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, etca golf widow
printing a short line at the end of a paragraph, esp one that occurs as the top line of a page or columnCompare orphan (def. 3)
(in some card games) an additional hand or set of cards exposed on the table

verb (tr; usually passive)

to cause to become a widow or a widower
to deprive of something valued or desirable

Derived Forms

widowhood, noun

Word Origin for widow

Old English widuwe; related to German Witwe, Latin vidua (feminine of viduus deprived), Sanskrit vidhavā
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

Idioms and Phrases with widowed

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.