DCHP-1 Online
widow-maker Esp. Lumbering, Slang 
1 n. a loose limb, rampike, or dead tree which is apt to fall and injure somebody.
See also: rampike
- 1965 [Caption] Park rangers . . . get rid of a "widow-maker," a dead stub hung up over the trail.
2 n. Hardrock Mining drill widow-maker. See quote.
- 1964 A miner drilling widowmaker is one so careless that he neglects to use a water attachment on his drill to dampen down quartz dust, thus leaving himself vulnerable to the mining lung disease, silicosis.
- 1965 [Caption] Park rangers . . . get rid of a "widow-maker," a dead stub hung up over the trail.