Widow word meaning and definition

[noun] a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried
[verb] cause to be without a spouse; "The war widowed many women in the former Yugoslavia"

\Wid"ow\, n. (Card Playing) In various games, any extra hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table.
\Wid"ow\, n. [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[=a]; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. ? a bachelor. ????. 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. {Grass widow}. See under {Grass}. {Widow bewitched}, a woman separated from her husband; a grass widow. [Colloq.] {Widow-in-mourning} (Zo["o]l.), the macavahu. {Widow monkey} (Zo["o]l.), 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.
\Wid"ow\, a. Widowed. ``A widow woman.'' --1 Kings xvii. 9. ``This widow lady.'' --Shak.
\Wid"ow\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Widowed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Widowing}.] 1. To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle. Though in thus city he Hath widowed and unchilded many a one, Which to this hour bewail the injury. --Shak. 2. To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave. The widowed isle, in mourning, Dries up her tears. --Dryden. Tress of their shriveled fruits Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail. --J. Philips. Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn. --Heber. 3. To endow with a widow's right. [R.] --Shak. 4. To become, or survive as, the widow of. [Obs.] Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and widow them all. --Shak.

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