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.
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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.
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Widow \Wid"ow\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Widowed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Widowing.]
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1. To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a
husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle.
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Though in thus city he
Hath widowed and unchilded many a one,
Which to this hour bewail the injury. --Shak.
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2. To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything
beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to
bereave.
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The widowed isle, in mourning,
Dries up her tears. --Dryden.
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Tress of their shriveled fruits
Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail. --J.
Philips.
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Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn.
--Heber.
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3. To endow with a widow's right. [R.] --Shak.
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4. To become, or survive as, the widow of. [Obs.]
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Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and
widow
them all. --Shak.
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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.
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