Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative form of
widow-maker .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Compton's heart attack -- known as a "widowmaker" because few survive its intensity -- forced another anxious period spent waiting for a donor.
CNN.com 2012
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The F-102 was a "widowmaker" with lots of crashes.
Is Bernie Goldberg Right? Had Bush "In Fact Volunteered to Go to Vietnam?" 2010
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The F-102 was a "widowmaker" with lots of crashes.
Thomas Lipscomb: Is Bernie Goldberg Right? Had Bush "In Fact Volunteered to Go to Vietnam?" 2009
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All the other kids in the neighborhood said I was like Evel Knieval, or a Kawasaki rider. remember, this was the 1970's, when the infamous Kawi H-2 750cc 3 cylinder 2-stroke was dubbed the "widowmaker"
Archive 2007-11-01 Charles Statman 2007
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All the other kids in the neighborhood said I was like Evel Knieval, or a Kawasaki rider. remember, this was the 1970's, when the infamous Kawi H-2 750cc 3 cylinder 2-stroke was dubbed the "widowmaker"
charles statman Charles Statman 2007
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The Matterhorn earned its underground sobriquet of "widowmaker" in January,
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Oil traders place spring bets on "widowmaker" oil * More gasoline output could cap the play By Emma Farge BRUSSELS - European officials urged the U.S. to join in a crackdown on speculators
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Oil traders place spring bets on "widowmaker" oil * More gasoline output could cap the play By Emma Farge Gas Inc.
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Oil traders place spring bets on "widowmaker" cars to be dearer 2 March, 2010 - The price of petrol has increased by Nu 2.44 and diesel by Nu 2.45 with effect from Sunday in the capital.
WN.com - Articles related to Toyota will replace pedals for unhappy owners 2010
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Every widowmaker in the trees that cracks and falls to the ground.
We Are Awake 2010
slumry commented on the word widowmaker
In loggers' jargon, a tree positioned so that it might fall on a man. I cringe to think of this.
July 24, 2007
uselessness commented on the word widowmaker
I've heard this word a lot of times in reference to dangerous things. If I recall correctly, there's a drink called the widowmaker, and it's also the name of Pecos Bill's horse. Seems common among tough-guy cultures like the lumberjacks (I refuse to say the flavorless P.C. word logger!) and cowboys and gangsters.
July 24, 2007
slumry commented on the word widowmaker
Yes, I think you are right. To make a fine, but important, distinction, though: This sort of language has a different connotation when used for a drink than when used for an unchosen risk. People in dangerous occupations tend to have a healthy respect for risks of the job. That is why they avoid creating widowmakers, wear stagged pants, and do not wear wrist watches.
Risk taking for sport or purely to demonstrate macho is gratuitous. I would reserve tough-guy culture for those sorts of things. I used to scuba dive. There is an unhealthy strand of tough-guy culture in that sport.
As for PC, what a howler that logger should be considered more PC than lumberjack. It is a regional difference, of course. The irony is that a logger would regard the latter term as too prettied-up; effete; citified. In their own region, of course, lumberjacks would have quite a different opinion.
July 24, 2007
uselessness commented on the word widowmaker
Yeah, I guess I equated people in dangerous occupations with "tough guys." They have to be tough, but not macho. There is a difference.
I think people would consider lumberjack politically incorrect because the jack part could be considered sexist. I assumed P.C. types would prefer logger because it's gender-neutral. What would people consider politically incorrect about logger?
July 24, 2007
johnmperry commented on the word widowmaker
Plenty of other uses, mostly contemporary. Synonymous with "fatally dangerous".
wikipedia includes:
July 18, 2008