— widowly , adj.
/wid"oh/ , n.
1. a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not remarried.
2. Cards. an additional hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table.
3. Print.
a. a short last line of a paragraph, esp. one less than half of the full measure or one consisting of only a single word.
b. the last line of a paragraph when it is carried over to the top of the following page away from the rest of the paragraph. Cf. orphan (def. 4).
4. a woman often left alone because her husband devotes his free time to a hobby or sport (used in combination). Cf. golf widow .
v.t.
5. to make (someone) a widow: She was widowed by the war.
6. to deprive of anything cherished or needed: A surprise attack widowed the army of its supplies.
7. Obs.
a. to endow with a widow's right.
b. to survive as the widow of.
[ bef. 900; (n.) ME wid ( e ) we, OE widuwe, wydewe; c. G Witwe, Goth widuwo, L vidua (fem. of viduus bereaved), Skt vidhava widow; (v.) ME, deriv. of the n. ]