kidney definition | Dictionary.com

kid⋅ney

[kid-nee]

–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 *nēore; cf. OHG nioro, ON nȳra); or ei (sing.), eiren (pl.) egg ¹ , OE ǣg (sing.), ǣgru (pl.) (by assoc. with the organ's shape); for the first element cf. dial. kid pod (akin to cod ² )

Related forms:

kid⋅ney⋅like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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kid·ney (kĭd'nē)

n. pl. kid·neys

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.
The kidney of certain animals, eaten as food.
An excretory organ of certain invertebrates.
Temperment; kind: a person of the same kidney.

[Middle English kidenei.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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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Language Translation for : kidney

Spanish: riñón,

German: die Niere,

Japanese: 腎臓

More Translations »

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.

Main Entry: kid·ney
Pronunciation: 'kid-nE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural kidneys
1 : one of a pair of vertebrateorgans situated in the body cavity near the spinal column that excrete waste products of metabolism, in humans are bean-shaped organs about 4¹/₂ inches(11¹/₂ centimeters) long lying behind the peritoneum in a mass of fatty tissue, and consist chiefly of nephrons by which urine is secreted, collected, and discharged into thepelvis of the kidney whence it is conveyed by the ureter to the bladder —compare MESONEPHROS, METANEPHROS, PRONEPHROS
2 : any of various excretory organs of invertebrate animals

kidney kid·ney (kĭd'nē)
n. pl. kid·neys
Either 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.

kidney (kĭd'nē) Pronunciation Key

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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.

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