lily-livered

lily-livered
lily-livered "cowardly," 1605, in "Macbeth;" from LILY (Cf. lily) (in its color sense of "pale, bloodless") + LIVER (Cf. liver) (n.1), which was a supposed seat of love and passion. A healthy liver is typically dark reddish-brown.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lily-livered — Someone who is lily livered is a coward …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • Lily-livered — Lil y liv ered (l[i^]l [y^] l[i^]v [ e]rd), a. White livered; cowardly. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lily-livered — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ cowardly …   English terms dictionary

  • lily-livered — [lil′ē liv΄ərd] adj. [first recorded in Shakespeare s Macbeth, V, iii] cowardly; timid …   English World dictionary

  • lily-livered — adjective easily frightened • Syn: ↑chicken, ↑chickenhearted, ↑white livered, ↑yellow, ↑yellow bellied • Similar to: ↑cowardly, ↑fearful …   Useful english dictionary

  • lily-livered — mod. cowardly. □ Don’t be so lily livered. Give it a try. □ That lily livered guy is up hiding under his bed till this blows over …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • lily-livered — adjective Cowardly, lacking bravery. . . . a lily livered, action taking knave . . . ; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel… …   Wiktionary

  • lily-livered —    Someone who is lily livered is a coward.   (Dorking School Dictionary) …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • lily-livered — cowardly, chicken, wimpy    Bull riding is not a sport for lily livered folks. It s not for wimps …   English idioms

  • lily-livered — literary not brave. I ve never seen such a lily livered bunch of wimps in my life! …   New idioms dictionary

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