The Collaborative International Dictionary
White-livered \White"-liv`ered\, a. Having a pale look; feeble; hence, cowardly; pusillanimous; dastardly.
Syn: lily-livered. [1913 Webster]
They must not be milksops, nor white-livered
knights.
--Latimer.
Wiktionary
a. (archaic form of lily-livered English)
WordNet
adj. easily frightened [syn: chicken, chickenhearted, lily-livered, yellow, yellow-bellied]
Usage examples of "white-livered".
An' then my job'll be to hunt that Saint guy downtake him into the back room of a station house and sweat a confession outa him with a baseball batput him in court an' work like hell to send him to the chairthe guy who only did what you or me would of done if we weren't such lousy, white-livered four-flushers we think more about holding down a paycheck than getting on with the work we're paid to do!
Five of 'em strung up in a row, and none left to play booty, or turn white-livered!
He said he was a bit of a roister-doister, not like these white-livered people today who can't hold their drink.
He said he was a bit of a roister-doister, not like these white-livered people today who can’t hold their drink.