widow

From Old English widewe, wuduwe, widuwe (“widow”), from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂. Cognates include German Witwe, Dutch weduwe, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 (widuwō), Old Irish fedb, Latin vidua, Old Church Slavonic въдова (vŭdova), and Sanskrit विधवा (vidhavā).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪ.dəʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪ.doʊ/

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• Rhymes: -ɪdəʊ
• Hyphenation: wid‧ow

widow (plural widows)

1. A woman whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); feminine of widower.
2. (uncommon) A person whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried).
   • 2016, Traciy Reyes, "‘The Wedding March’: Hallmark Movie — June Bride Unwittingly Hires Wedding Singer Who Is Her Ex, Starring Josie Bissett, Jack Wagner", The Inquisitr News, June 23, 2016.

     Now that he is a widow, he tries to win Olivia back through the songs and the music that brought them together all those years ago, leaving Olivia torn between moving forward with Josh or falling into the arms of the man she truly loves.

3. (informal, in combination) A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a sport, etc.
   • 1988, Emily Parry, "For a Bowling Widow, a Split Isn't Just Two Lonely Pins", New York Times, November 27, 1988.

     I had been feeling like a bowling-alley widow, but knew he loved the game, so I suggested we join a mixed league.

4. (card games) An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.
5. (printing) A single line of type that ends a paragraph, carried over to the next page or column.
6. A venomous spider, of the genus Latrodectus.

• widowed
• widower
• widowhood

widow (third-person singular simple present widows, present participle widowing, simple past and past participle widowed)

1. (transitive) To make a widow or widower of someone; to cause the death of the spouse of.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To strip of anything valued.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To endow with a widow's right.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To be widow to.