Part 509

1. (Anat.) A glandular organ which excretes urea and other waste products from the animal body; a urinary gland.

In man and in other mammals there are two kidneys, one on each side of vertebral column in the back part of the abdomen, each kidney being connected with the bladder by a long tube, the ureter, through which the urine is constantly excreted into the bladder to be periodically discharged.

2. Habit; disposition; sort; kind. Shak.

There are in later times other decrees, made by popes of another kidney.

Barrow.

Millions in the world of this man's kidney.

L'Estrange.

Your poets, spendthrifts, and other fools of that kidney, pretend, forsooth, to crack their jokes on prudence.

Burns.

This use of the word perhaps arose from the fact that the kidneys and the fat about them are an easy test of the condition of an animal as to fatness. "Think of that, -- a man of my kidney; -- . . . as subject to heat as butter." Shak.

3. A waiter. [Old Cant] Tatler.

Floating kidney. See Wandering kidney, under Wandering. -- Kidney bean (Bot.), a sort of bean; -- so named from its shape. It is of the genus Phaseolus (P. vulgaris). See under Bean. -- Kidney ore (Min.), a variety of hematite or iron sesquioxide, occurring in compact kidney-shaped masses. -- Kidney stone. (Min.) See Nephrite, and Jade. -- Kidney vetch (Bot.), a leguminous herb of Europe and Asia (Anthyllis vulneraria), with cloverlike heads of red or yellow flowers, once used as a remedy for renal disorders, and also to stop the flow of blood from wounds; lady's-fingers.

{ Kid"ney-form` (?), Kid"ney-shaped` (?), } a. Having the form or shape of a kidney; reniform; as, a kidney-shaped leaf. Gray.

Kid"ney*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) (a) A kind of saxifrage (Saxifrage stellaris). (b) The navelwort.

Kie (?), n. pl. [Cf. Kee.] Kine; cows. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Kie"fe*kil (?), n. [Per. keff foam, scum + gil clay, mud.] (Min.) A species of clay; meerschaum. [Also written keffekil.]

Kier (?), n. [Icel. ker a tub.] (Bleaching) A large tub or vat in which goods are subjected to the action of hot lye or bleaching liquor; -- also called keeve.

||Kie"sel*guhr` (?), n. [G., fr. kiesel flint + guhr an earthy deposit ||or sediment in water.] Siliceous earth; specifically, porous ||infusorial earth, used as an absorbent of nitroglycerin in the ||manufacture of dynamite. || Kie"ser*ite (?). n. [Named after Prof. Kieser, of Jena.] (Min.) Hydrous sulphate of magnesia found at the salt mines of Stassfurt, Prussian Saxony.

Kieve (?), n. See Keeve, n.

Kike (?), v. i. [Cf. D. kijken, Sw. kika.] To gaze; to stare. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Kike (?), v. t. & i. To kick. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Kil"der*kin (?), n. [OD. kindeken, kinneken, a small barrel, orig., a little child, fr. kind child; akin to G. kind, and to E. kin.] A small barrel; an old liquid measure containing eighteen English beer gallons, or nearly twenty-two gallons, United States measure. [Written also kinderkin.]

Kill (?), n. A kiln. [Obs.] Fuller.

Kill, n. [D. kil.] A channel or arm of the sea; a river; a stream; as, the channel between Staten Island and Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills; -- used also in composition; as, Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.

Kill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Killed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Killing.] [OE. killen, kellen, cullen, to kill, strike; perh. the same word as cwellen, quellen, to kill (cf. Quell), or perh. rather akin to Icel. kolla to hit in the head, harm, kollr top, summit, head, Sw. kulle, D. kollen to kill with the ax.] 1. To deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means; to render inanimate; to put to death; to slay.

Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words !

Shak.

2. To destroy; to ruin; as, to kill one's chances; to kill the sale of a book. "To kill thine honor." Shak.