Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Liver \Liv"er\, n. [AS. lifer; akin to D. liver, G. leber, OHG.
   lebara, Icel. lifr, Sw. lefver, and perh. to Gr. ? fat, E.
   live, v.] (Anat.)
   A very large glandular and vascular organ in the visceral
   cavity of all vertebrates.

   Note: Most of the venous blood from the alimentary canal
         passes through it on its way back to the heart; and it
         secretes the bile, produces glycogen, and in other ways
         changes the blood which passes through it. In man it is
         situated immediately beneath the diaphragm and mainly
         on the right side. See {Bile}, {Digestive}, and
         {Glycogen}. The liver of invertebrate animals is
         usually made up of c[ae]cal tubes, and differs
         materially, in form and function, from that of
         vertebrates.

   {Floating liver}. See {Wandering liver}, under {Wandering}.
      

   {Liver of antimony}, {Liver of sulphur}. (Old Chem.) See
      {Hepar}.

   {Liver brown}, {Liver color}, the color of liver, a dark,
      reddish brown.

   {Liver shark} (Zo["o]l.), a very large shark ({Cetorhinus
      maximus}), inhabiting the northern coasts both of Europe
      and North America. It sometimes becomes forty feet in
      length, being one of the largest sharks known; but it has
      small simple teeth, and is not dangerous. It is captured
      for the sake of its liver, which often yields several
      barrels of oil. It has gill rakers, resembling whalebone,
      by means of which it separates small animals from the sea
      water. Called also {basking shark}, {bone shark},
      {hoemother}, {homer}, and {sailfish}