gel
Americannoun
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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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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:
Dentists could apply the gel quickly using a process similar to the way fluoride treatments are administered today.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
When the powder comes into contact with blood, it reacts with cations such as calcium and transforms into a gel in about one second, rapidly sealing the wound.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026
They said that caffeine could affect the results, and gel interferes with the electrodes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
It gets stranger still as a pair of ultrasound probes are fixed to my head, complete with splodges of slimy gel above the ears - to measure the blood flow to my brain.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
He pressed a pump that dispensed cellulite gel and massaged it into the back of his ungloved hand.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Different gels and drinks will be offered to different players.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Young shoppers enamored with the “glass skin” look are snapping up serums, peels, gels and mists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
A team of scientists from Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Germany believes the answer may involve sticky gels that coated surfaces on early Earth long before the first true cells appeared.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 2026
These gels may have helped solve major challenges faced by early chemistry.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 2026
And now Mustafa practically lives in the bathroom, shaves, gels his hair, and drowns in cologne.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
The older players had a good relationship with Robins, but when Lampard arrived the younger members - who grew up watching him play for Chelsea and Manchester City - gelled with him quickly.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 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
The trouble was that his mathematics never gelled tightly.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Many vegan meat alternatives also use gelling agents that bind water and fat.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
Farmhouses across the nation practically required at least one of the long-lived trees because of quinces’ natural pectin, an important gelling ingredient in preserves.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
The 63-year-old, who was sacked by England last year, said his side can challenge the All Blacks in their next game despite "not quite gelling" against the Pumas.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2023
But they are really gelling in a way that’s better than I could ever hope for.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
A method according to claim 1 wherein said gel 60 consists essentially of 1,2-butylene oxide and a gelling agent selected from the group consisting of SiO2, particulate carbon and aluminum octoate.
From U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive October 6, 1981. by Stull, Bertram O.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
