Word
spleen
US/ˈspɫin/
UK/splˈiːn/
Definitions
01body organ
n. an organ near your stomach that helps clean your blood and fight infections.
n. a ductless vascular organ located in the left upper abdomen that filters blood and produces lymphocytes.
“The doctor checked his abdomen to see if his spleen was swollen.”
“Following the blunt force trauma to the torso, the surgical team monitored the patient closely for signs of a ruptured spleen.”
Technical
02anger or spite
n. a feeling of anger, bad mood, or wanting to be mean to someone.
n. a state of ill-temper, spite, or resentment; often used in the idiom 'to vent one's spleen'.
“He used the newspaper column to vent his spleen against the local government.”
“The critic's review was filled with spleen, attacking not just the play but the personal character of the lead actor.”
Literary · Archaic
Antonyms
03to express anger
v. to complain loudly or show that you are very annoyed.
v. to vent one's anger or to rail against something; frequently used in an intransitive or reflexive sense.
“She would often spleen about the unfairness of her situation to anyone who would listen.”
“Rather than seeking a constructive solution, he spent the afternoon spleening against the new corporate regulations.”
Archaic
Real-World Examples
“In that case, the coroner told WGAL that a ruptured spleen, not measles, was the cause of death.” “He believes the baby died shortly after birth because of a lacerated spleen.” Etymology
From Middle English splene, splen, from Anglo-Norman espleen and Old French esplein, esplen, from Latin splēn (“milt”), from Ancient Greek σπλήν (splḗn, “the spleen”). Doublet of lien. Partially displaced the native English term milt.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/spleen