-widow-

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

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 ]

(Zool.) See Whidan bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A man who has lost his wife by death, and has not married again. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being a widower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower. [ 1913 Webster ]

Johnson clung to her memory during a widowhood of more than thirty years. Leslie Stephen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Estate settled on a widow. [ Obs. ] “I 'll assure her of her widowhood . . . in all my lands.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who courts widows, seeking to marry one with a fortune. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Becoming or like a widow. [ 1913 Webster ]