jelly

[jel-ee]

noun

plural

jellies 

1. a food preparation of a soft, elastic consistency due to the presence of gelatin, pectin, etc., especially fruit juice boiled down with sugar and used as a sweet spread for bread and toast, as a filling for cakes or doughnuts, etc.

2. any substance having the consistency of jelly.

3. Chiefly British.,  a fruit-flavored gelatin dessert.

4. a plastic sandal or shoe.

verb (used with or without object)

jellied, jellying 

1. to bring or come to the consistency of jelly.

adjective

1. containing or made, spread, or topped with jelly or syrup; jellied.

   jelly apples.

jelly

¹

/ ˈdʒɛlɪ /

noun

1. US and Canadian trademark: Jell-o. a fruit-flavoured clear dessert set with gelatine

2. a preserve made from the juice of fruit boiled with sugar and used as jam

3. a savoury food preparation set with gelatine or with a strong gelatinous stock and having a soft elastic consistency

   calf's-foot jelly

4. anything having the consistency of jelly

5. informal,  a coloured gelatine filter that can be fitted in front of a stage or studio light

verb

1. to jellify

jelly

²

/ ˈdʒɛlɪ /

noun

1. a slang name for gelignite

Other Word Forms

• jelly-like adjective
• jellylike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of jelly¹

1350–1400; Middle English gely < Old French gelee frozen jelly < Medieval Latin gelāta frozen, equivalent to Latin gel- freeze + -āta -ate ¹; gel, cold

Word History and Origins

Origin of jelly¹

C14: from Old French gelee frost, jelly, from geler to set hard, from Latin gelāre, from gelu frost

Example Sentences

Jelly beans are great, but sour jelly beans are even better.

Read more on Salon

Trader Joe’s over the summer began stocking its stores with a new line of frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwich snacks, the crusts trimmed off and the edges pressed together.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The food company J. M. Smucker accused Trader Joe’s of ripping off its trademark peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a lawsuit filed this week.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

My late grandmother, in particular, had a predictable, beloved spread: shrimp cocktail with horseradish-laced sauce; the supermarket veggie platter with ranch; crockpot meatballs simmered in barbecue sauce and grape jelly; salsa with Tostito’s scoops.

Read more on Salon

"Dishes often contain meat that looks like cartilage, jelly and fat, with a high percentage of gristle," she wrote.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• gelatin