jelly
Americannoun
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jellies
plural
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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.
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any substance having the consistency of jelly.
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Chiefly British. a fruit-flavored gelatin dessert.
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a plastic sandal or shoe.
verb (used with or without object)
adjective
noun
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US and Canadian trademark: Jell-o. a fruit-flavoured clear dessert set with gelatine
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a preserve made from the juice of fruit boiled with sugar and used as jam
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a savoury food preparation set with gelatine or with a strong gelatinous stock and having a soft elastic consistency
calf's-foot jelly
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anything having the consistency of jelly
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informal a coloured gelatine filter that can be fitted in front of a stage or studio light
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of jelly
1350–1400; Middle English gely < Old French gelee frozen jelly < Medieval Latin gelāta frozen, equivalent to Latin gel- freeze + -āta -ate 1; cf. gel, cold
Explanation
Jelly is a sweet preserved form of fruit that's usually made with sugar. Your favorite breakfast might be buttered toast spread thickly with strawberry jelly. Jelly is the close relative to jam and preserves — jelly is typically more translucent than its fruitier cousins, and is sometimes made with juice rather than whole pieces of fruit. Outside of North America, jelly is a dessert made from gelatin. Jelly comes from the Old French gelee, "jelly" and also "frost," from the verb geler, "to congeal," with its Latin root gelare, "to freeze."
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:
Members of Blur drank mulled wine, singer Myleene Klass handed out jelly babies, and the crowd waited for Beagle 2 to confirm it had landed safely.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Improved full-year financial estimates came from a diverse set of companies, including healthcare companies McKesson and Charles River Laboratories International and jelly giant Smucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
A squat little gem painted gold, filled with vermouth jelly, surrounded by blueberry toast.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
The site also preserved Eoandromeda, a possible comb jelly with eight arms arranged in a spiral.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
“You gonna eat peanut butter and jelly all your life?”
From "Fourth Grade Rats" by Jerry Spinelli
This coordination allows comb jellies to maintain their orientation as they move through the water.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2026
Marine life that most people never see floated into view, including delicate comb jellies with pulsing fairy-light illuminations along their sides.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
Fancy cocktail napkins are a big seller, as are specialty jellies in flavors like hot pepper and cinnamon pear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
It uses a cavernous hood to trap crustaceans to eat — a feeding strategy also used by anemones and some jellies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024
I found her shaking hands by Miss Esther’s homemade jams and jellies booth.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
After dismounting, legs jellied, we high-fived and plotted our next move.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
There are close-ups of hands kneading dough, a snail sliming its way up a window and Cathy prodding a jellied fish with her finger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
But for anyone feeling adventurous, pie 'n' mash can also be served with stewed jellied eels - another Cockney favourite.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2024
Datasembly measured prices for russet potatoes, roasted turkey gravy, eight buttermilk biscuits, cut green beans, jellied cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie mix, frozen pastry pie shells, whipped topping and sweet corn.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
This task kept her busy throughout the day and demanded so much of her time that the family began to complain that all there ever was for dinner was old string beans and jellied quince.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Yet it has caused one hell of a stir, jellying the jaded reserve of hardcore automotive journalists and hard-nose collectors alike.
From The Verge ● Feb. 2, 2016
A whole summer of jellying and juicing, she said, hadn’t made so much mess in the kitchen.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
In the meantime, our stomachs jellying and our necks burning, we listened, avoided each other’s eyes, and picked toe jam or whatever.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
Long cooking of pectin changes it into substances which do not have the property of jellying, hence, make jelly in as short a time as possible.
From School and Home Cooking by Carlotta Cherryholmes Greer
If new at the game make only four, because there is danger of the juice jellying in the kettle before it can be removed.
From Every Step in Canning by Grace Viall Gray
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.
