Pronunciations (2)
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/ˈwɪ.dəʊˌmeɪ.kəɹ/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ˈwɪ.doʊˌmeɪ.kəɹ/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
Noun
Something which or someone who takes a person's life, particularly men; a lethal hazard that affects mostly men or is specific to a primarily male trade.
Usage- idiomatic
- Examples
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O, it grieves my soul, / That I must draw this metal from my side / To be a widow-maker!
What is a woman that you forsake her, / And the hearth-fire and the home-acre, / To go with the old grey Widow-maker?
More examples (1)
Finally, jobs that are 'widow-makers' should be rethought and restructured. In the heyday of the great sailing ships, around 1850, just before the coming of steam, every shipping company had a widow-maker on its hands once in a while. ... One typical 'widow-maker' has been the job of international vice-president in the large American company.
The detached or broken limb of a tree, a hazard to those walking underneath.
- Synonyms
An occlusion of the left coronary artery or its anterior interventricular branch, which is likely to cause a fatal heart attack.
Usage- Informal
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
Usage- Slang