DictionaryAI

widow

SayWID-oh/ˈwɪd.oʊ/UK/ˈwɪd.əʊ/

Pluralwidows

Verbwidows, widowing, widowed

10 meanings of widow

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    A woman whose husband has died and who has not married again.

    The widow wore black for many months after the funeral.

    Three widows in the village had lost their husbands to the same war.

    Note
  2. 2
    nounrarecountable
    A person of any gender whose spouse has died and who has not married again.

    He became a widow when his wife passed away last spring.

    Every widow in the support group had lost a husband or a wife.

    Note
  3. 3
    nouncolloquialhumoroussarcasticcountablein compounds
    A woman whose husband is so often away at a hobby or job that she is left alone.

    She called herself a football widow every Sunday during the season.

    Being a widow to his late nights at the office, she usually ate dinner alone.

    Note
  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To make someone a widow or widower by causing their husband or wife to die.

    The mine collapse widowed dozens of women in a single night.

    A sudden accident can widow someone in an instant.

    Similarbereave

  5. 5
    nouncountable
    A small, very poisonous spider. The female sometimes eats the male after mating.

    A widow had spun its web in the corner of the shed.

    She found two widows hiding under the woodpile.

  6. 6
    nouncountable
    An extra set of cards placed face-down for the winning bidder to use.

    She won the bidding and picked up the widow.

    The widow held two cards that completed his strong hand.

    Similarkitty

    Note
  7. 7
    nouncountable
    A paragraph's last line when it gets pushed alone to the top of the next page or column.

    The editor fixed a widow on page twelve before printing.

    A widow left the final line stranded at the top of the next page.

    Oppositeorphan

    Note
  8. 8
    verbfigurativelytransitive
    To take away from someone everything that they value.

    The market crash widowed many families of their savings.

    War can widow a people of everything they hold dear.

    Similarrob, deprive, strip, bereave

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 9
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To give someone the legal rights that a widow has.

    The old will widowed her with a third of the estate.

    Their marriage contract promised to widow the bride generously.

    Note
  2. 10
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To be the widow of a certain person.

    She widowed the old king for thirty years after his death.

    Should he fall in battle, she would widow him faithfully.

    Note

Practice

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Origin

This word comes from Old English 'widuwe' and older Germanic forms. It goes back to an ancient Indo-European root that may have meant 'to separate' or 'to divide'.