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kid·ney 
Audio Help [kid-nee] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [kid-nee] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -neys.
| 1. | Anatomy. either of a pair of bean-shaped organs in the back part of the abdominal cavity that form and excrete urine, regulate fluid and electrolyte balance, and act as endocrine glands. |
| 2. | Zoology. a corresponding organ in other vertebrate animals or an organ of like function in invertebrates. |
| 3. | the meat of an animal's kidney used as food. |
| 4. | constitution or temperament: He was a quiet child, of a different kidney from his boisterous brothers. |
| 5. | kind, sort, or class: He is only at ease with men of his own kidney. |
[Origin: 1275–1325; ME kidenei, kidenere (sing.), kideneres, kideneren (pl.); orig. uncert.; perh. a compound based either on nere (sing.), neres (pl.) kidney (OE *néore; cf. OHG nioro, ON nȳra); or ei (sing.), eiren (pl.) egg1, OE ǣg (sing.), ǣgru (pl.) (by assoc. with the organ's shape); for the first element cf. dial. kid pod (akin to cod2)]
] —Related forms
kid·ney·like, adjective
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Kidney
To learn more about Kidney visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| kid·ney
Audio Help (kĭd'nē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. kid·neys
[Middle English kidenei.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
kidney
c.1325, of unknown origin, originally kidenere, perhaps a compound of O.E. cwið "womb" + ey "egg," in reference to the shape of the organ. Fig. sense of "temperament" is from 1555. Kidney bean is from 1548.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| kidney | |
noun | |
| either of two bean-shaped excretory organs that filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them and water in urine; "urine passes out of the kidney through ureters to the bladder" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
kidney [ˈkidni] noun
one of a pair of organs in the body which remove waste matter from the blood and produce urine
Example: The kidneys of some animals are used as food.
Example: The kidneys of some animals are used as food.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
kidney
Audio Help (kĭd'nē) Pronunciation Key
(click for larger image in new window) Either of a pair of organs that are located in the rear of the abdominal cavity in vertebrates. The kidneys regulate fluid balance in the body and filter out wastes from the blood in the form of urine. The functional unit of the kidney is the nephron. Wastes filtered from the blood by the nephrons drain into the ureters, muscular tubes that connect each kidney to the bladder. See also nephron. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Kidney
Kid"ney\, n.; pl. Kidneys. [OE. kidnei, kidnere, from Icel. koi?r belly, womb (akin to Goth. gipus, AS. cwip womb) + OE. nere kidney; akin to D. nier, G. niere, OHG. nioro, Icel. n?ra, Dan. nyre, Sw. njure, and probably to Gr. (?) Cf. Kite belly.] 1. (Anat.) A glandular organ which excretes urea and other waste products from the animal body; a urinary gland. Note: In man and in other mammals there are two kidneys, one each side of vertebral column in the back part of the abdomen, each kidney being connected with the bladder by a long tube, the ureter, through which the urine is constantly excreted into the bladder to be periodically discharged. 2. Habit; disposition; sort; kind. --Shak. There are in later other decrees, made by popes of another kidney. --Barrow. Millions in the world of this man's kidney. --L'Estrange. Your poets, spendthrifts, and other fools of that kidney, pretend, forsooth, to crack their jokes on prudence. --Burns. Note: This use of the word perhaps arose from the fact that the kidneys and the fat about them are an easy test of the condition of an animal as to fatness. "Think of that, -- a man of my kidney; -- . . . as subject to heat as butter." --Shak. 3. A waiter. [Old Cant] --Tatler. Floating kidney. See Wandering kidney, under Wandering. Kidney bean (Bot.), a sort of bean; -- so named from its shape. It is of the genus Phaseolus (P. vulgaris). See under Bean. Kidney ore (Min.), a variety of hematite or iron sesquioxide, occurring in compact kidney-shaped masses. Kidney stone. (Min.) See Nephrite, and Jade. Kidney vetch (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.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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