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