grass widower
English edit
Etymology edit
From grass + widower, after grass widow.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun edit
grass widower (plural grass widowers)
- A married man whose spouse is away. [from 19th c.]
- 1914 February 25, A.T. Smith, Punch, page 146:
- “I shall be a gay grass widower for the next two months—wife’s gone for a holiday to the West Indies.”
- 1931, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Five Red Herrings:
- "I wonder if there is a single person in the Stewartry that Campbell didn't have a row with," thought Wimsey, and made an addition to his list:—
6. John Ferguson—about 36—about 5 foot 10 inches—grass widower.
- 1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 57:
- She was generous with her offers to introduce Edith to various grass-widowers of her acquaintance – ‘my cast-offs’, as she laughingly referred to them […] .
Translations edit
a married man whose wife is away
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