kishke

English

Kishke

Alternative forms

• kishka, kiszka, kishkeh

Etymology

Attested in English since the late 1930s, from Yiddish קישקע (kishke), from Slavic—Polish kiszka, Russian кишка́ (kišká), or Ukrainian ки́шка (kýška). Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kyšьka (“intestine, stomach”). Related to Sanskrit कोष्ठ (koṣṭha, “intestine”) and possibly Ancient Greek κύστις (kústis, “bladder”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɪʃkə/

Noun

kishke (plural kishkes)

1. A dish made from stuffed intestine.
   • 2012, David H. Chanofsky, Burnt Offerings: A Rabbi's Memoir, iUniverse, page 118:

     Now what is cholent without "kishke"? Our mothers made kishke from the small intestine of a cow. They filled it with stuffing, spices and Shmaltz (chicken fats).

   • 2015, Vilna without Vilna, in Helen Mintz (translator), Abraham Karpinowitz, Vilna My Vilna, Syracuse University Press, page 20

     Zelik the Benefactor's wife was the queen of kishke. Her kishke melted in your mouth. It always came out brown and shiny, like chestnuts fresh from the tree.

   • 2023, June Hersh, Iconic New York Jewish Food, Arcadia Publishing, page 133,

     It might seem a stretch, but kishke—a hard-to-find, old-school deli item—was actually considered a sausage, as it was an encased ground stuffing. Kishke is a combination of grains, veggies, schmaltz (chicken fat) and sometimes meat.

2. (informal, often in the plural) Intestines, guts.

   Oy a broch! I was so worried! I knew something was wrong. In my kishkes, I could feel it!

   • 1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint:

     Subsequently she was over the toilet all night throwing up. ‘My kishkas came out from that thing! Some practical joker!’

   • 2004 [Jonathan Cape], Howard Jacobson, The Making of Henry, 2005, Random House (Vintage), page 330,

     Moira is another one who shleps her kishkes out spending time with Henry.

Synonyms

• (dish): blood pudding, blood sausage
• (dish): derma, stuffed derma, stuffed kishke
• (intestines): stomach, gut, guts

References

• “kishke”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “kishke”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “kishke”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “kishke” in The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005
• “kishka” and “kishke” in Frederic Gomes Cassidy, Joan Houston Hall (1985), Dictionary of American Regional English, p 228, Harvard University Press, ISBN 067420519
• Rudnyc'kyj, Ja. (1972–1982) “кишка”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language, volumes 2 (Д – Ь), Ottawa: Ukrainian Mohylo-Mazepian Academy of Sciences; Ukrainian Language Association, →LCCN, page 674

Further reading

• kishke on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Shekki