Definition of "dower" [dow•er]

• The part or interest of a deceased man's real estate allotted by law to his widow for her lifetime. Also called dowry. (noun)
• See dowry. (noun)
• A natural endowment or gift; a dowry. (noun)
• To give a dower to; endow. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A married woman may bar her Release of right of dower in land conveyed by her husband or by operation dower° of law by joining in, the deed conveying the land or by releasing the land by a subsequent deed executed either separately or jointly with her husband."
• "There were what they called dower rights in the age, and the people who want to sentimentalize this will say, Well, there was no reason for Shakespeare or the lawyer to write anything in because everyone understood that she ` d have these dower rights, as his surviving wife."
• "When Nur al-Din heard such demand he said, What manner of dower is this thou wouldst impose upon my son?"