I. ˈlivə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lifer; akin to Old Frisian livere liver, Old High German lebra, Old Norse lifr, and perhaps to Greek lipos fat — more at leave
1.
a. : a large very vascular glandular organ of vertebrates that secretes bile and causes important changes in many of the substances contained in the blood which passes through it (as by converting sugars into glycogen which it stores up until required and in forming urea), in man being the largest gland, from 40 to 60 ounces in weight, of a dark red color, occupying the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity immediately below the diaphragm to whose curvature its upper surface conforms, being divided by fissures into five lobes, and receiving blood both from the hepatic artery and the portal vein and returning it to the systemic circulation by the hepatic veins — see digestion illustration
b. : any of various large compound glands associated with the digestive tract of invertebrate animals and prob. concerned with the secretion of digestive enzymes
2. archaic : the liver regarded as determining the quality or temper of a man
hot livers and cold purses — Shakespeare
— compare white-livered
3. : the liver of an animal (as a calf or pig) eaten as food by man
4. : disease or disorder of the liver ; especially : biliousness
had a touch of liver — Christopher Isherwood
5. or liver brown or liver maroon : a grayish reddish brown that is redder and deeper than average taupe brown — called also autumn oak
6. : a liver-colored substance (as any of several sulfur compounds) — called also hepar
II. adjective
: of a dark chestnut color — used especially of horses and dogs
III. intransitive verb
( livered ; livered ; livering -v(ə)riŋ ; livers )
: to become thick and rubbery like liver : gel — used especially of paints, varnishes, and printing inks
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English liveren, partly from Old French livrer, from Latin liberare to free; partly short for Middle English deliveren — more at liberate , deliver
now dialect England : deliver
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from liven to live + -er
1. : one that lives especially in a specified way
my father was a good liver — W.A.White
the typical American cheap liver abroad — Herbert Gold
the grossest of evil livers — W.J.Locke
2. : resident
VI.
comparative of live