widow's walk

American  

noun

1. a platform or walk atop a roof, as on certain coastal New England houses of the 18th and early 19th centuries: often used as a lookout for incoming ships.

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Etymology

Origin of widow's walk

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

After dark, I climbed the spiral staircase to the widow’s walk and stood by the pulsing beacon, which felt forbidden but isn’t.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024

In addition to the crow’s nest, the house also has a widow’s walk, where it is said the women would wait to welcome their husbands home from war.

From Washington Times • Mar. 18, 2018

The widow’s walk was being turned into a meditation room; photographs of Gray and his children, now grown, occupied every wall and corner.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2017

Mourning and ring-neck doves flew onto the widow’s walk of the tallest house on Beaufort’s waterfront, according to Chris Davis, 58, owner of a home there.

From BusinessWeek • Aug. 26, 2011

He might even now be pulling them apart page by page, folding them into birds, and launching them off his high widow’s walk, one by one.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor