widowmaker

American  

[wid-oh-may-ker] / ˈwɪd oʊˌmeɪ kər /

noun

• widowmakers
  plural

1. anything likely to cause sudden death, especially a danger in a male-dominated profession.

2. Medicine/Medical. the anterior interventricular branch of the left coronary artery, or a blockage of it.

3. a loose or broken tree limb that can easily fall on someone below and kill them.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• widowmakers
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

widowmaker widowmakers

The “Everybody Loves Raymond” star revealed Monday that high cholesterol led him toward a close call with a so-called widowmaker heart attack, caused when the heart’s main artery gets nearly or fully blocked.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

Its vast bond buying has bent a previously quiet market out of shape and sent the cost soaring for those staying in a trade nicknamed the "widowmaker" for its notorious unprofitability.

From Reuters ● Jul. 15, 2022

Susan Lucci will never forget the moment that she nearly faced "the widowmaker."

From Fox News ● Feb. 1, 2022

And the markets are littered with the failed careers of those who bet that ultra-low Japanese bond yields would not last; a trade known as "the widowmaker".

From Economist ● Jan. 10, 2018

Daylight savings time is a widowmaker: stay off the roads on Leap Forward day!

From Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow

Those teams cleaned up their mess and reseeded areas, while trail crews attacked widowmakers with chain saws.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2022