widow
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
widow
n 1: a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not
remarried [syn: {widow}, {widow woman}]
v 1: cause to be without a spouse; "The war widowed many women
in the former Yugoslavia"
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Widow \Wid"ow\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Widowed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Widowing}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a
husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle.
[1913 Webster]
Though in thus city he
Hath widowed and unchilded many a one,
Which to this hour bewail the injury. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything
beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to
bereave.
[1913 Webster]
The widowed isle, in mourning,
Dries up her tears. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Tress of their shriveled fruits
Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail. --J.
Philips.
[1913 Webster]
Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn.
--Heber.
[1913 Webster]
3. To endow with a widow's right. [R.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. To become, or survive as, the widow of. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and
widow
them all. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Widow \Wid"ow\ (w[i^]d"[-o]), n. [OE. widewe, widwe, AS.
weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa,
D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth.
widuw[=o], Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr.
vidhav[=a]; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack;
cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. [root]248. Cf. {Vidual}.]
A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not
married again; one living bereaved of a husband. "A poor
widow." --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Card Playing) In various games (such as "hearts"), any
extra hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table.
It may be taken by one of the players under certain
circumstances.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Grass widow}. See under {Grass}.
{Widow bewitched}, a woman separated from her husband; a
grass widow. [Colloq.]
{Widow-in-mourning} (Zool.), the macavahu.
{Widow monkey} (Zool.), a small South American monkey
({Callithrix lugens}); -- so called on account of its
color, which is black except the dull whitish arms, neck,
and face, and a ring of pure white around the face.
{Widow's chamber} (Eng. Law), in London, the apparel and
furniture of the bedchamber of the widow of a freeman, to
which she was formerly entitled.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906)
WIDOW, n. A pathetic figure that the Christian world has agreed to
take humorously, although Christ's tenderness towards widows was one
of the most marked features of his character.
from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
WIDOW. An unmarried woman whose husband is dead.
2. In legal writings, widow is an addition given to a woman who is
unmarried and whose husband is dead. The addition of spinster is given to a
woman who never was married. Lovel. on Wills, 269. See Addition. As to the
rights of a widow, seq Dower.
from
Who Was Who: 5000 B. C. to Date
WIDOW
Merry, a dream who hung around Mr. Maxim's restaurant in
Paris, made love to nobility, toured the world, and finally
died. Death was caused by overexertion. Before the war she
was engaged to a Balkan prince. W. visited New York, London,
and Paris. Everybody fell in love with her and whistled her
praises. Past: (?) Press Agent: Frank Lehar. Ambition:
Millionaires. Recreation: After 11.45 P. M. Epitaph: When
Will There Be Another Like Her?
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