I. ˈwi(ˌ)dō, -_də; -_dəw, -_dō+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English widewe, widwe, from Old English widewe, wuduwe; akin to Old High German wituwa, witawa widow, Gothic widuwo, Latin vidua widow, -videre to separate, Greek ēitheos unmarried youth, Sanskrit vidhavā widow, vidhura separated from, vindhate he lacks
1.
a. : a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not since remarried — often used as if a title before a woman's marriage name
the widow Jones
a tavern kept by widow Smith
b. : a particular woman identified as having survived her husband and often as having thereby acquired legal rights that are not lost by subsequent remarriage by her though they may sometimes be lost by decree, statute, or construction (as on account of the survivor's desertion or adultery)
c. dialect Britain : widower
d. : a woman whose husband deserts her or spends much time (as in a sports activity) away from her : grass widow 2 — usually used with a qualifying word
poker widow
fishing widow
club widow
— compare golf widow
2. : one of a special class of women in the early Christian church serving as deaconesses in the performance of works of charity and in some liturgical offices (as the baptism of women)
3. : an extra hand or part of a hand of cards that is dealt face down and usually placed at the disposal of the highest bidder — see kitty , skat
4.
a. : a short line ending a paragraph and appearing at the top of a printed page or column
b. : a short line at the foot of a page or column
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to cause to become a widow : bereave (a person) of a spouse
women widowed by the war
he hath widowed and unchilded many a one — Shakespeare
2. : to survive as the widow of
let me be married to three kings … and widow them all — Shakespeare
3. : to deprive of something greatly loved or needed : make desolate — usually used with of
the widowed isle — John Dryden
tank supporters … widowed of tanks — A.J.Liebling