Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—L

Livered

As, white-livered, lily-livered. Cowardly. In the auspices taken by the Greeks and Romans before battle, if the liver of the animals sacrificed was healthy and blood-red, the omen was favourable; but if pale, it augured defeat.

“Thou lily-livered boy.”

Shakespeare: Macbeth v. 3.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Liverpool
Liver-vein
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