gizzard
UK /ˈɡɪzəd/ · US /ˈɡɪzɚd/ noun
Forms gizzards
- noun A specialized organ constructed of thick muscular walls found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (including crocodilians and birds), earthworms, some gastropods, some fish, and some crustaceans, and used for grinding up food, often aided by particles of stone or grit.
- noun (slang) The (human) stomach.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English gyser, geser, from Old French gesier, giser et al. (French gésier), from Latin gigēria.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The second, or true, muscular stomach of birds, in which the food is crushed and ground, after being softened in the glandular stomach (crop), or lower part of the esophagus; the gigerium.
- noun (a) A thick muscular stomach found in many invertebrate animals.
Etymology [F. gésier, L. gigeria, pl., the cooked entrails of poultry. Cf. Gigerium.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gizzard”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details