merry-widow en · VERB
Etymology
From Franz Lehár's popular 1905 operetta The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe); the romantic centerpiece is a sweeping, hypnotic waltz where the two main characters dance together because they are too stubborn to admit their love out loud.
Meanings
-
(obsolete) To swirl around dancing a romantic or flamboyant waltz.
Dan produced his divining rod - a piece of forked willow tree - and taking a firm grip of it with both hands, went off ‘merry-widowing’ round Skinnerlouse’s yard.
1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 8:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| merry-widows | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| merry-widowing | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| merry-widowed | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| merry-widowed | Tense=Past | lexicographic |