Definitions for widow
ˈwɪd oʊwid·ow

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. widow, widow womanverb

   a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried

2. widowverb

   cause to be without a spouse

   "The war widowed many women in the former Yugoslavia"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. widownoun

   A woman whose husband has died (and has not re-married); feminine of widower.

   Etymology: From widewe, from widuwōn.

2. widownoun

   A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a sport, etc.

   Etymology: From widewe, from widuwōn.

3. widownoun

   A single line of type that ends a paragraph, carried over to the next page or column.

   Etymology: From widewe, from widuwōn.

4. widownoun

   type of venomous spider, of the genus Latrodectus

   Etymology: From widewe, from widuwōn.

5. widowverb

   To make a widow (or widower) of someone; to cause the death of one's spouse.

   Etymology: From widewe, from widuwōn.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Widownoun

   a woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband

   Etymology: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhav; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. 248. Cf. Vidual.]

2. Widowadjective

   widowed

   Etymology: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhav; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. 248. Cf. Vidual.]

3. Widowverb

   to reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle

   Etymology: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhav; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. 248. Cf. Vidual.]

4. Widowverb

   to deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave

   Etymology: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhav; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. 248. Cf. Vidual.]

5. Widowverb

   to endow with a widow's right

   Etymology: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhav; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. 248. Cf. Vidual.]

6. Widowverb

   to become, or survive as, the widow of

   Etymology: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhav; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. 248. Cf. Vidual.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Widow

   A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood. This term can be used for either sex, at least according to some dictionaries, but the word widowerhood is also listed in some dictionaries. Occasionally, the word viduity is used. The adjective form for either sex is widowed. The treatment of widows around the world varies, but unequal benefits and treatment generally received by widows versus widowers globally has spurred an interest in the issue by human rights activists.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Widow

   wid′ō, n. a woman who has lost her husband by death.—v.t. to bereave of a husband: to strip of anything valued: (Shak.) to endow with a widow's right: to be widow to.—ns. Wid′ow-bench, a widow's share of her husband's estate besides her jointure; Wid′ow-bewitched′, a grass-widow; Wid′ow-bird, a corruption of Whydah-bird; Wid′ower, a man whose wife is dead; Wid′owerhood; Wid′owhood, state of being a widow, or (rarely) of being a widower: (Shak.) a widow's right; Wid′ow-hun′ter, one who seeks to marry a widow for her money; Wid′ow-mā′ker, one who bereaves women of their husbands; Wid′ow's-cham′ber, the apparel and bedroom furniture of the widow of a London freeman, to which she was entitled; Wid′ow-wail, a dwarf shrub with pink, sweet-scented flowers, native to Spain and southern France.—Widow's lawn, a fine thin muslin; Widow's man, a fictitious person; Widow's silk, a silk fabric with dull surface, for mournings; Widow's weeds, the mourning dress of a widow. [A.S. widwe, wuduwe; Ger. wittwe, L. vidua, bereft of a husband, Sans. vidhavā.]

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. WIDOW

   The wife of a golfer during the open season, unless she golfs, too. In that event the children are golf orphans.

Matched Categories

1. • Leave

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'widow' in Nouns Frequency: #1830

How to pronounce widow?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say widow in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of widow in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of widow in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of widow in a Sentence

1. Kate Bowler:

   When I first started studying( the prosperity gospel), it was considered this sort of late-night TV preacher with greasy hair, ripping off a widow in Florida kind of reputation.

2. Helen Rowland:

   A widow is a fascinating being with the flavor of maturity, the spice of experience, the piquancy of novelty, the tang of practiced coquetry, and the halo of one man's approval.

3. Sheila Kariuki:

   She called at the top of her voice, 'Hey, Kamau, why are you so far behind and this boy is disturbing me?' no man was with her -- she is probably a widow -- but she was able to save herself.

4. Steven Soderbergh:

   That was something we were going to do well before the nominations came out -- we talked about that in January. It's our belief -- that I think is not unfounded -- that actors' speeches tend to be more dramatic than producers' speeches. And so we thought it might be fun to mix it up, especially if people didn't know that was coming, so that was always part of the plan. And then when the nominations came out and there was even the possibility that Chadwick could win posthumously, our feeling was if he were to win and his widow were to speak on his behalf, there would be nowhere to go after that. So we stuck with it.

5. Charles Lichtman:

   We believe that justice was not done here, our client is a 78-year-old widow, whose UBS broker put all of her money into one investment.

Images & Illustrations of widow

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