widow-maker
/ˈwɪ.doʊˌmeɪ.kəɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.85 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
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.
noun
An occlusion of the left coronary artery or its anterior interventricular branch, which is likely to cause a fatal heart attack.
Informal
Example Sentences
- "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?"
- "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."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɪ.doʊˌmeɪ.kəɹ/
- British English: /ˈwɪ.dəʊˌmeɪ.kəɹ/