liver taken from a living animal
Refers specifically to the liver removed from an animal while it is still alive, often in historical or culinary contexts. Not a common everyday word.
In the past, it was believed that eating liver taken from a living animal would give you energy.
Standard kanji spelling; 肝 is the common character for 'liver' in this context.
Alternate kanji spelling using 胆, which can also mean 'liver' but is less common for this word.
Compound of 生き (iki, 'living') + 肝 (kimo, 'liver'). The reading ぎも is a rendaku (sequential voicing) form of きも.