grass widower

grass widower

English

Etymology

From grass +‎ widower, after grass widow.

Pronunciation

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Noun

grass widower (plural grass widowers)

1. A married man whose spouse is away. [from 19th c.]
   • 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 2016, p. 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

a married man whose wife is away

Danish: græsenkemand c German: Strohwitwer (de) m Hungarian: szalmaözvegy (hu) Norwegian: Bokmål: gressenkemann m Nynorsk: grasenkemann m, grasenkjemann m Polish: słomiany wdowiec (pl) m Swedish: gräsänkling (sv) c, gräsänkeman c