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• jerry
  jerry

  adjective

  of inferior materials or workmanship.
• Jerry
  Jerry

  noun

  a male given name, form of Gerald, Gerard, Jeremiah, and Jerome.

jerry

¹ American  

[jer-ee] / ˈdʒɛr i /

adjective

Building Trades Slang.

1. of inferior materials or workmanship.

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jerry ² American  

[jer-ee] / ˈdʒɛr i /

noun

Chiefly British Slang.

• jerries
  plural

1. a chamber pot.

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Jerry ³ American  

[jer-ee] / ˈdʒɛr i /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Gerald, Gerard, Jeremiah, and Jerome.

2. a female given name, form of Geraldine.

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Jerry ⁴ American  

[jer-ee] / ˈdʒɛr i /

noun

Older Slang: Sometimes Offensive.

• Jerries
  plural

1. a German, especially a German soldier.

2. Germans collectively.

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Jerry ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒɛrɪ /

noun

1. a German, esp a German soldier

2. the Germans collectively

   Jerry didn't send his bombers out last night

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jerry ² British  

/ ˈdʒɛrɪ /

noun

1. an informal word for chamber pot

2. short for jeroboam

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Sensitivity

Jerry was a nickname used by Allied soldiers for a German soldier during World War I, but it was more commonly used in World War II.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Jerries
  plural
• jerries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of jerry¹

First recorded in 1875–80; short for jerry-built

Origin of jerry²

1820–30; short for Jeroboam (because if one drank such a large amount of liquid, one would have to void urine during the night)

Origin of Jerry⁴

First recorded in 1910–15; Ger(man) + -y ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jerry Jerry Jerries

Fellow tourist Vladislav, who arrived by road from the Russian region of Krasnodar, said he had brought jerry cans filled with petrol in case he was unable to find fuel.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

People bought five-gallon jerry cans, filled them, and bought more.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

Left behind on the street outside the Louvre was the truck, a jerry can, a blowtorch, angle grinders, a walkie-talkie and yellow vests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

A child lugs a jerry can half his size full of water.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024

Hundreds of gallons of water in ten gallon plastic jerry jugs.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

He performed with Gene Autry and Lawrence Welk, and appeared on screen with Elvis Presley in the musical film “Roustabout” and Jerry Lewis in comedy film “The Patsy.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026

Jerry Coats had fairly conventional plans for retirement after nearly 50 years in education: travel, family time and a little R&R.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026

Jerry treats each song as a poem and doesn’t listen to the music until after the pair has finished their analysis.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026

The podcast has been approached by a travel company offering to put together a “Swiftie and The Scholar” trip to the U.K. loosely based on places Jerry has traveled to and mentioned during the podcast.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026

“Come on over here,” Jerry said, beckoning me over to an empty strip.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

I’m not in Cisterna because the Jerries still got it, but we were pretty darn close.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2012

Now that the Jerries meant business, internal communications broke down: during raids the big red busses pulled to the curb and the high black quacking taxis stopped short and their cabbies ducked.

From Time Magazine Archive

Did you hear that German girls threw flowers at the Jerries as they marched into Sibiu and Seghisoara?

From Time Magazine Archive

I guess the Jerries must have been holding it for the poor fellows caught in the lights.

From Time Magazine Archive

The three Hendee Hawks came roaring down upon the nice party the Jerries had planned.

From A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F. by Rutherford George Montgomery

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