Brewer's: Wadman

(Widow). A comely widow who tries to secure Uncle Toby for her second husband. Amongst other wiles she pretends that she has something in her eye, and gets Uncle Toby to look for it; as the kind-hearted hero of Namur does so, the widow gradually places her face nearer and nearer the captain's mouth, under the hope that he will kiss her and propose. (Sterne: Tristram Shandy.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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