# jelly

Pronunciation: say "JEL-ee" /ˈd͡ʒɛl.i/

## Noun

1. A clear or translucent fruit preserve made from fruit juice and set with pectin, either natural to the fruit or added. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A clear, sweet food made from fruit juice that is cooked until it becomes firm.
   - _She spread a thin layer of red currant jelly over the warm biscuits._
   - _The jellies at the farmers market come in apple, quince and hot pepper._
2. A dessert made by boiling gelatin, or a plant-based alternative such as agar, with sugar and flavoring, often from fruit, and letting it set. *(Commonwealth)*
   - Simple: A sweet dessert made with gelatin, sugar and flavor, left to become firm.
   - _She made an orange jelly in a rabbit-shaped mould for the children's party._
   - _Vegetarian jellies are set with agar instead of gelatine._
3. Any substance or object with the consistency of the gelatin dessert or the fruit preserve.
   - Simple: Any soft thing that feels like the sweet dessert or the fruit spread.
   - _Simmering the seeds releases a slippery jelly that thickens the soup._
   - _By the end of the fight, his nose had been beaten to a jelly._
5. In zoology and marine biology, a jellyfish.
   - Simple: Another word for a jellyfish, the soft animal that drifts in the sea.
   - _The new exhibit lets visitors watch a single jelly pulse slowly through the dark water._
   - _Divers were warned to keep their distance from the larger jellies near the reef._
6. A savory substance derived from meat that sets to the same texture as the gelatin dessert.
   - Simple: A food made from meat that is not sweet but sets firm like the sweet dessert.
   - _As the bone stock cooled overnight, it set into a firm jelly._
   - _Chilled slices of ham were served in a savory jelly flecked with herbs._
7. Short for jelly shoe, a shoe or sandal made of soft, often transparent plastic. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A soft plastic shoe or sandal, often bright or see-through.
   - _Every girl in the class had a pair of glittery jellies that summer._
   - _Her left jelly squeaked with every step on the wet boardwalk._
8. A person's large buttocks, especially a woman's. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A big bottom, especially a woman's.
   - _The DJ told the whole crowd to get up and shake their jelly._
   - _He joked that all the holiday pie had gone straight to his jelly._
11. Clipping of gelignite. *(colloquial)* — Clipping of gelignite.
   - Simple: Short for gelignite. People use it as a casual name for the explosive.
   - _The quarry crew packed the jelly into the drill holes before the blast._
   - _Police found several sticks of jelly in the back of the van._
12. Clipping of jelly coconut. *(Caribbean, Jamaica)* — Clipping of jelly coconut.
   - Simple: Short for jelly coconut. A young coconut with soft meat inside.
   - _The vendor split the jelly open so we could scoop out the soft white meat._
   - _On hot afternoons the beach vendors sell jellies straight from the back of a truck._
14. Vitrified brick waste broken up and used as road metal, the hard base material laid in building roads. *(India)*
   - Simple: Pieces of old brick, burned until glassy, used to build the hard layer of a road.
   - _The road crew laid a bed of jelly and rolled it before adding the top coat._
   - _Overburnt bricks from the kiln were crushed into jelly for the village road._

## Adjective

4. Feeling jealous, as of someone's looks, luck or possessions. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Feeling jealous because someone has something you want.
   - _Half the group chat was jelly of his concert tickets._
   - _Don't be jelly, you'll get a turn on the new console soon._

## Verb

9. To turn something into jelly.
   - Simple: To make something into jelly.
   - _She jellied the leftover stock so it could be sliced and served cold._
   - _Cooks who jelly fruit juice need enough pectin to make it set._
10. To preserve food by setting it in jelly.
   - Simple: To keep food for longer by setting it in jelly.
   - _The shop still jellies its eels the old way, in a broth that sets as it cools._
   - _Butchers jelly the pressed pork in a loaf pan so it can be sliced cold._

## Noun

13. A pretty girl, or someone's girlfriend. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A pretty girl, or a girlfriend.
   - _Everyone at the garage knew he had a jelly waiting for him in the next county._
   - _He spent his whole paycheck taking his jelly to the movies._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To quiver or wobble the way the gelatin dessert does.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–13** — Inherited from Middle English gele, borrowed from Old French gelee, from Early Medieval Latin gelāta, formed from Latin gelō + -āta, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel- by way of Latin gelū. It is a doublet of gelee.
**Meaning 4** — A clipping of jealous + -y, an informal adjective ending.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/jelly (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).