This week's theme: whose what?

widow's peak (WID-oz peek) noun

   A V-shaped hairline at the center top of the forehead.

[From the former belief that this feature in a woman was an omen that she'd
outlive her husband, as in those days a widow wore a mourning hood with a
pointed crest.]

Earlier, this feature in a man was known as a widower's peak, though today
widow's peak is a unisex term. It's not known what the superstition said
when two people with widow's peak married each other. Examples of people
with widow's peaks: John Travolta, Count Dracula.

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=widow's+peak

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "Tall, slim and more Draculesque than ever with his sunken cheeks,
   widow's peak and grey sidewings, [Jan] Garbarek led a virtuosic
   quartet by example."
   Jack Massarik; The Enigma Soars to a Sparky Beat; The Evening Standard
   (London, UK); Nov 19, 2007.

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/widows_peak.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/widows_peak.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/widows_peak.html

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