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chopped liver

(chŏpt)

1. A dense mixture of cooked liver, hard-boiled eggs, chopped onions, chicken fat or vegetable oil, and seasonings, used as a spread or sandwich filling.

2. Slang Something or someone considered of little value: "a necklace and earrings that weren't chopped liver" (Paula Marantz Cohen).

[Sense 2, probably from the fact that chopped liver is often served as a side dish.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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