Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Anatomy Either one of a pair of organs in the dorsal region of the vertebrate abdominal cavity, functioning to maintain proper water and electrolyte balance, regulate acid-base concentration, and filter the blood of metabolic wastes, which are then excreted as urine.
  • noun The kidney of certain animals, eaten as food.
  • noun An excretory organ of certain invertebrates.
  • noun Temperament; kind.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In min., a concretion shaped like a kidney.
  • noun In anatomy, a glandular structure whose function is the purification of the blood by the excretion of urine; one of the renes or reins; a renal organ.
  • noun Anything resembling a kidney in shape or otherwise, as a potato.
  • noun plural The inmost parts; the reins.
  • noun A waiting-servant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) A glandular organ which excretes urea and other waste products from the animal body; a urinary gland.
  • noun Habit; disposition; sort; kind.
  • noun Old Cant A waiter.
  • noun See Wandering kidney, under Wandering.
  • noun (Bot.) a sort of bean; -- so named from its shape. It is of the genus Phaseolus (Phaseolus vulgaris). See under Bean.
  • noun (Min.) a variety of hematite or iron sesquioxide, occurring in compact kidney-shaped masses.
  • noun (Min.) See Nephrite, and Jade.
  • noun (Bot.) a leguminous herb of Europe and Asia (Anthyllis vulneraria), with cloverlike heads of red or yellow flowers, once used as a remedy for renal disorders, and also to stop the flow of blood from wounds; lady's-fingers.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An organ in the body that filters the blood, producing urine.
  • noun This organ (of an animal) cooked as food
  • noun figuratively constitution, temperament, nature

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun either of two bean-shaped excretory organs that filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them and water in urine

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English kidenei.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English kednei, kidenei, from earlier kidnēre, kidenēre ("kidney"). Of uncertain origin. Probably a compound consisting of Middle English *kid-, *quid- ("belly, womb"), from Old English cwiþ, cwiþa ("belly, womb, stomach") + Middle English nēre ("kidney"), from Old English *nēore ("kidney"), from Proto-Germanic *neurô (“kidney”), from Proto-Indo-European *negʷh-r- (“kidney”). If so, then related to Dutch nier ("kidney"), German Niere ("kidney"), Danish nyre ("kidney"), Swedish njure ("kidney").

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Examples

Comments

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  • Riñón // WordReference

    October 19, 2007

  • Discovered (not really) in 1783.

    October 7, 2008

  • Possibly the stupidest lawyer ever

    I certainly appreciated the gothamist's nifty explanatory graphic, though. It cleared everything right up.

    I miss frangarnes. Remember the horrifying video kerfuffle he unwittingly spawned? poor guy.

    January 10, 2009

  • I think frangarnes was/is a she. :-)

    January 10, 2009

  • reesetee: you're pranking me, right? S/He had to have been a guy. Besides which, no woman would have uploaded that video, right?

    *Recoils in horror at the thought of having to recalibrate long held views about 'ladylike' behavior, prurient interest in coprophagic internet videos not being one of the characteristics I associate with being a lady*

    Besides which, frangarnes posted like a dude.

    Of course, I'm still not entirely sure whether reesetee is male or female. I know I had it wrong for at least my first six months on Wordie, but I can't remember if my mistake was that I thought he was a girl, or that she was a boy. Reesetee... eternal wordie-ite of mystery ....

    But I don't really *know* with certainty the sex of any Wordie-ites. Except maybe John and Prolagus. Though Pro could have set up a whole web of deceptive Flickr photos....

    January 10, 2009

  • *indescribable rock-n-roll noise* "Dude posts like a lady." *indescribable rock-n-roll noise* "Dude posts like a lady."

    January 10, 2009

  • S/he posted like a dude?

    *thinking*

    Well, if frangarnes posted an accurate photo of himself on his Twitter profile, I guess you're correct, s. Silly me. Though you still may have to recalibrate long-held views about "ladylike" behavior. ;->

    Signed, Eternal Wordie-ite of Mystery

    P.S. Dontcry: HA!

    January 11, 2009

  • "Du, du, du, Duuuude posts like a lay-day!"

    January 11, 2009

  • *not what I expected to read on this page*

    *delighted anyway*

    January 12, 2009

  • Hmmmm. Follow the Twitter link on Fran's frofile, there's a photo.

    January 12, 2009

  • Bilby: Just said that, didn't I?

    January 12, 2009