gel
Americannoun
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gels
plural
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Physical Chemistry. a semirigid colloidal dispersion of a solid with a liquid or gas, as jelly, glue, etc.
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Theater. gelatin.
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Biochemistry. a semirigid polymer, as agarose, starch, cellulose acetate, or polyacrylamide, cast into slabs or cylinders for the electrophoretic separation of proteins and nucleic acids.
verb (used without object)
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gels,
present (3rd person singular)
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gelled,
past participle, past
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gelling
present participle
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to form or become a gel.
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jell.
noun
verb
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to become or cause to become a gel
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a variant spelling of jell
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gelsimple
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gelssimple
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have gelledperfect
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has gelledperfect
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am gellingprogressive
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are gellingprogressive
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is gellingprogressive
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have been gellingperfect progressive
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has been gellingperfect progressive
Past
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gelledsimple
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had gelledperfect
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was gellingprogressive
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were gellingprogressive
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had been gellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gel
First recorded in 1895–1900; shortening of gelatin
Vocabulary lists containing gel
Theater - Middle School
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Theater - High School
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Vocabulary from Readings 3, Unit 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pimple patches containing a gel called hydrocolloid can absorb fluids from oozing pimples and stop you from picking at them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Soccer tied to this summer’s World Cup that tucked cooling gel into a clear, stadium-friendly bag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
The researchers repurposed an existing medication and paired it with an advanced gel designed to keep the drug inside the joint.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
He donates the venison to food pantries because he has alpha-gal and his son “almost died from anaphylactic shock from two Advil gel caps,” he told me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Well, FYI, I’m allergic to sulfa, so if there’s sulfa in that gel I might explode. But don’t be afraid. If you were, that is.”
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
If it did, the attempt to recreate the first film’s magic would’ve come with plenty of film stock and some colored gels to make sure every shot isn’t washed out in jaundiced yellow.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
However, those gels still need to be surgically implanted.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
To be clear: These athletes aren’t chowing on the yucky old sports gels we all know and hate, the ones that taste like tangerines and moldy baseball gloves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Their team, which specialise in hydrogels, worked alongside Sawe to train him to absorb the 90-120 grams of carbohydrates included in the gels within an hour period without feeling distress.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
And now Mustafa practically lives in the bathroom, shaves, gels his hair, and drowns in cologne.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
But he has gelled with them, while Piastri - so strong in the first half of last season - is struggling.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
“I can’t recall a group like that, that gelled so quickly, that I’ve ever worked on before. It was a really fast-clicking ensemble,” Laurie Metcalf says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
But when she arrives at Iona’s apartment, Andie is shocked to see that a coiffed perm, light makeup, a sensible suit and a string of pearls have replaced her friend’s beehives and gelled spikes.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
After treatment with dancing molecules, the gelled nanofiber scaffold reduced inflammation, shrank glial scarring, stimulated neurite extension, and encouraged neurons to grow in organized patterns.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2026
Felix pretended to run his hands through his black spiky gelled hair and leaned back in his seat.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
The gummy section covers various gelling agents like gelatin, agar agar, pectin and tapioca starch.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2022
But they are really gelling in a way that’s better than I could ever hope for.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
We want to see goals, we want to see defending, great assists, the team really gelling together on the pitch.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2022
A unit that was overhauled in the offseason by free-agent signings and has taken time to develop chemistry due to injuries and inconsistency, may finally be gelling at just the right time.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2021
According to this invention 1,2-butylene oxide may be used in either its natural 5 liquid state or gelled with a hereinafter named gelling agent.
From U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive October 6, 1981. by Bertram O. Stull
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