n. & v.
--n.
1. a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not married again.
2 a woman whose husband is often away on a specified activity (golf widow).
3 extra cards dealt separately and taken by the highest bidder.
4 Printing the short last line of a paragraph at the top of a page or column.
--v.tr.
1. make into a widow or widower.
2 (as widowed adj.) bereft by the death of a spouse (my widowed mother).
3 (foll. by of) deprive of.
Phrases and idioms:
widow-bird a whydah. widow's cruse an apparently small supply that proves or seems inexhaustible (see
1. Kgs. 17:10-16). widow's mite a small money contribution (see Mark 12:42). widow's peak a V-shaped growth of hair towards the centre of the forehead. widow's weeds see WEEDS.
Etymology: OE widewe, rel. to OHG wituwa, Skr. vidh{aacute}va, L viduus bereft, widowed, Gk eitheos unmarried man