gizzard


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

giz·zard

 (gĭz′ərd)
n.
1. A modified muscular pouch behind the stomach in the digestive tract of birds, having a thick lining and often containing ingested grit that aids in the breakdown of seeds before digestion.
2. A similar digestive organ found in certain invertebrates, such as the earthworm.

[Alteration of Middle English giser, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *gicērium, from Latin gigēria, cooked entrails of poultry, probably of Iranian origin; akin to Persian jigar, liver; see yē̆kw in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gizzard

(ˈɡɪzəd)
n
1. (Zoology) the thick-walled part of a bird's stomach, in which hard food is broken up by muscular action and contact with grit and small stones
2. (Zoology) a similar structure in many invertebrates
3. informal the stomach and entrails generally
[C14: from Old North French guisier fowl's liver, alteration of Latin gigēria entrails of poultry when cooked, of uncertain origin]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

giz•zard

(ˈgɪz ərd)

n.
1. Also called ventriculus. the thick-walled, muscular lower stomach of many birds and reptiles that grinds partially digested food, often with the aid of ingested gravel.
2. a similar structure in the foregut of arthropods and annelids, often lined with chitin and small teeth.
3. the innards or viscera collectively, esp. the intestine and stomach.
[1325–75; Middle English giser < Old French giser, gezier < Vulgar Latin *gigerium; compare Latin gigeria, gizeria giblets, probably ultimately < Iranian]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

giz·zard

(gĭz′ərd)
A muscular pouch behind the stomach in birds. It has a thick lining and often contains swallowed sand or grit, which helps to break food into small pieces.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.gizzard - thick-walled muscular pouch below the crop in many birds and reptiles for grinding foodgizzard - thick-walled muscular pouch below the crop in many birds and reptiles for grinding food
pouch, pocket - (anatomy) saclike structure in any of various animals (as a marsupial or gopher or pelican)
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

gizzard

[ˈgɪzəd] Nmolleja f
it sticks in my gizzard (fig) → no lo puedo tragar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

gizzard

nMuskelmagen m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
"The Skip of the Tip-Toe-Hop, a Romance of the Middle Ages, by the celebrated author of `Tittle-Tol-Tan,' to appear in monthly parts; a great rush; don't all come together." All this they read with saucer eyes, and erect and primitive curiosity, and with unwearied gizzard, whose corrugations even yet need no sharpening, just as some little four-year-old bencher his two-cent gilt-covered edition of Cinderella -- without any improvement, that I can see, in the pronunciation, or accent, or emphasis, or any more skill in extracting or inserting the moral.
"Nay, I spied nothing," grumbled Sir Oliver, "for I was hurried down with a clam stuck in my gizzard and an untasted goblet of Cyprus on the board behind me."
But the following fact is more important: the crops of birds do not secrete gastric juice, and do not in the least injure, as I know by trial, the germination of seeds; now after a bird has found and devoured a large supply of food, it is positively asserted that all the grains do not pass into the gizzard for 12 or even 18 hours.
Jos descended from the post-chaise and down the creaking swaying steps in awful state, supported by the new valet from Southampton and the shuddering native, whose brown face was now livid with cold and of the colour of a turkey's gizzard. He created an immense sensation in the passage presently, where Mrs.
A hero, you know, must hold himself in readiness for any kind of fate; and doubtless the glory of the thing was a consolation to him, even in the crane's gizzard. If Antaeus observed that the battle was going hard against his little allies, he generally stopped laughing, and ran with mile-long strides to their assistance, flourishing his club aloft and shouting at the cranes, who quacked and croaked, and retreated as fast as they could.
It feeds on the delicate sea-weeds which grow among the stones in muddy and shallow water; and I found in its stomach several small pebbles, as in the gizzard of a bird.
In the porkers he saw carved out the future sleek side of bacon, and juicy relishing ham; not a turkey but he beheld daintily trussed up, with its gizzard under its wing, and, peradventure, a necklace of savory sausages; and even bright chanticleer himself lay sprawling on his back, in a side dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chivalrous spirit disdained to ask while living.
Savory morsels of ham, golden blocks of corn-cake, fragments of pie of every conceivable mathematical figure, chicken wings, gizzards, and drumsticks, all appeared in picturesque confusion; and Sam, as monarch of all he surveyed, sat with his palm-leaf cocked rejoicingly to one side, and patronizing Andy at his right hand.
By 2010, rough fish (gizzard shad, common carp and grass carp) comprised 93% of the fish biomass in the lake, while non-priority management species comprised over 96% of the fish biomass.
Benham (1888: 72) reported on a specimen from an unknown type locality, with two pairs of nephridia per segment and the gizzard in segment 6, and named it Brachydrilus [sp.].
@callmedollar wrote, "Wyclef wasted all that good vegetable oil to pose on a motorcycle looking like spoiled gizzard."
I wish you both well gizzard WE SAID: A DREAM to transform the banks of the Tees between Stockton and Yarm has become a reality with the official launch of the Tees Heritage Park.