spleeny
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spleen
(splēn)n.
1.
a. A large, highly vascular lymphoid organ, located in the human body to the left of the stomach below the diaphragm, that serves as a reservoir for blood, destroys old red blood cells, and contains lymphocytes that combat blood-borne antigens.
b. A homologous organ or tissue in other vertebrates.
2. Obsolete This organ conceived as the seat of emotions or passions.
3. Ill temper: vent one's spleen.
4. Archaic Melancholy.
5. Obsolete A whim; a caprice.
[Middle English splen, from Old French esplen, from Latin splēn, from Greek.]
spleen′y adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
spleen•y
(ˈspli ni)adj. spleen•i•er, spleen•i•est.
abundant in or displaying spleen; spleenful.
[1595–1605]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.