Definition of widow-maker
:something having the potential to cause sudden loss of life
- "Our biggest worry is the mines," says Sgt. Darrell McCoy. The Third Platoon has been well trained to handle those widow-makers.
- —David H. Hackworth
a
:a loose limb hanging in or falling from a tree
- Broken branches that are hung up high in the canopy are called widow makers, for good reason.
- —Jack Ewing
b
:a blockage in a branch of the left coronary artery that commonly causes a fatal heart attack;
also
:the branch of the left coronary artery susceptible to fatal blockage
- One of my arteries—one known as "the widowmaker"—was almost completely blocked.
- —Rob Mikulak
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