liver

The word “liver” means the large organ in the abdomen that filters the blood, processes nutrients, and removes toxins. In plain terms, the organ that cleans your blood, or the food made from an animal's version of it.

“Liver” is pronounced LIH-vuh (/ˈlɪvɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “liver” used in a sentence: “The liver plays a key role in digesting fats.”

“Liver” is a noun.

The word “liver” comes from Old English. From Old English lifer, an old Germanic word for the organ, related to German Leber.

“Liver” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Liver” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the large organ in the abdomen that filters the blood, processes nutrients, and removes toxins.

As food, "liver" is usually treated as an uncountable mass noun, as in "liver and onions," even though it comes from a countable organ. You would normally say "some liver" rather than "two livers" unless referring to whole organs from separate animals.

"Liver" pairs with "chicken," "calf's," or "lamb's" to name the source when eaten, and with "damage," "disease," and "function" in medical contexts. "Liver spots" and "chopped liver" are common fixed phrases.

Although "liver" the organ and "liver" meaning "one who lives" are spelled the same, they behave as separate words and are pronounced differently: the organ has a short "i," while "one who lives" has a long "i." Pronunciation and context keep them apart.