widow
gb/wˈɪdoʊ/ us/wˈɪdoʊ/
A2
English
~ 2800
Senses
0 senses
Noun
A2
entity
1
Woman whose husband has died
A woman whose husband is dead and who has not married again.
Usage pattern:
[someone] is a widow
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'widow' with 'widower', which refers to a man whose wife has died.
Synonyms
bereaved wife (More formal and emphasizes the emotional loss.)
Antonyms
wife (Refers to a married woman whose husband is alive.)
Collocations
war widow
|young widow
|widow pension
|widow remarriage
|widow support
Themes
family
|relationships
|life events
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- After her husband passed away, she became a widow at 35.
- The charity provides financial assistance to widows of fallen soldiers.
- She has been a widow for over ten years and lives alone.
- The club organizes events for widows and widowers to meet.
- Her grandmother, a widow for decades, still wears her wedding ring.
Learner examples
- My aunt is a widow.
- She became a widow last year.
- The widow lives alone now.
- The old widow has three children.
Noun
technical
C1
entity
2
Single line at top of page
In printing, a short last line of a paragraph that is alone at the top of a page.
Common mistake:
Learners may think 'widow' only means a woman whose husband has died and not know about the typography meaning.
Synonyms
orphan (typography) (Related term; an orphan is a single line at the bottom of a page.)
Collocations
avoid widows
|widows and orphans
|typographic widows
Themes
printing
|design
|arts_entertainment
|communication
Examples
- The designer adjusted the text to prevent widows in the layout.
- Widows can make printed pages look awkward.
- Good typography avoids leaving widows at the top of columns.
Learner examples
- The book had no widows.
- A widow is bad in design.
- He fixed the widow in the text.
Grammar
Dictionary form
widow
IPA
GB/wˈɪdoʊ/
US/wˈɪdoʊ/
Syllables & stress
wid - ow (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (wid)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: widow
- Plural: widows
Word family
Forms
widows
noun
Core family
widowed
adjective
widower
noun
Related words
widowhood
noun
Expressions
black widow
1/blˈæk wˈɪdoʊ/
fixed phrase
Woman who kills partners
A woman who kills her romantic partners, often for money or revenge.
Examples
- The police suspected her of being a black widow after two of her husbands died mysteriously.
- The movie tells the story of a notorious black widow.
grass widow
1/ɡɹˈæs wˈɪdoʊ/
idiom
informal
Woman with absent partner
A woman whose husband or partner is away for a long time but is not dead.
Examples
- While her husband was working overseas, she joked about being a grass widow.
- During the fishing season, many women in the village become grass widows.
merry widow
1/mˈɛɹi wˈɪdoʊ/
fixed phrase
Lively attractive widowed woman
A woman whose husband has died and who is cheerful and social.
Examples
- She was known as the town’s merry widow, always hosting parties.
- The film features a charming merry widow who falls in love again.