ˈgizə(r)d noun
( -s )
Etymology: earlier gysard, alteration of gysar, from Middle English giser, gyser, from Old North French guisier liver (especially of a fowl), gizzard, modification of Latin gigeria (neuter plural) cooked entrails of poultry, perhaps of Iranian origin; akin to Persian ǰigar liver; akin to Greek hēpat-, hēpar liver — more at hepatic
1.
a. : the muscular enlargement of the alimentary canal of birds that immediately follows the crop, is best developed in seed-eating birds, typically has thick muscular walls and a tough horny lining, and serves to grind the food, its muscular action being commonly assisted by gravel swallowed by the bird
b. : a thickened part of an alimentary canal similar in function to the crop of a bird (as the proventriculus of an insect or the enlargement immediately in front of the intestine of an earthworm)
2. : innards
it warms my gizzard … and I am proud of you — O.W.Holmes †1935
this notion has long stuck in my gizzard — W.S.Maugham