widowhood

Variant of widow

widow definition

widow (widō)

noun

  1. a woman who has outlived the man to whom she was married at the time of his death; esp., such a woman who has not remarried
  2. Card Games a number of cards dealt into a separate pile, typically for the use of the highest bidder
  3. Printing an incomplete line, as that ending a paragraph, carried over to the top of a new page or column: generally avoided by rewriting copy to eliminate the line or fill it out
  4. Informal a woman whose husband is often away indulging in a specified hobby, sport, etc. a golf widow

Etymology: ME widwe < OE widewe, akin to Ger witwe, L vidua < IE *widhewo-, separated < base *weidh-, to separate: see divide

transitive verb

to cause to become a widow or widower: usually in the past participle widowed by the war

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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