In graphic design, widow means: A very short last line of a paragraph left alone, especially at the top of a new column or page, which looks untidy and breaks the reading flow.
In Turkish: dul satır, tek kalan satır
How it is used
Used in typesetting, editorial design and proofreading. Designers fix, avoid or remove widows and orphans by editing the text, adjusting tracking slightly or changing line breaks.
Example sentences
There's a widow at the top of page 12; can we lose a few words from that paragraph?
Before sending the book to print, I checked every spread for widows and orphans.
Common collocations
widows and orphans
fix a widow
avoid widows
widow control
Related terms
body copyThe main, longer text of a design, such as paragraphs in a brochure or article, as opposed to headlines, captions and other short text.
trackingThe overall spacing between letters across a whole word, line or paragraph, adjusted evenly to make text look looser or tighter.
leadingThe vertical distance between lines of text, measured from one baseline to the next. The name comes from strips of lead that printers once placed between lines of metal type.
spreadTwo pages that face each other when a book, magazine or brochure is open, designed and viewed together as one wide layout.
