jelly

American  

[jel-ee] / ˈdʒɛl i /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

1. to jellify

jelly ² British  

/ ˈdʒɛlɪ /

noun

1. a slang name for gelignite

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Other Word Forms

• jelly-like adjective
• jellylike adjective

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; gel, cold

Example Sentences

Blue button jellies and by-the-wind sailors feed on plankton and serve as food for violet snails.

From Science Magazine

A study published today in Nature offers some of the strongest evidence yet that comb jellies are the true descendants of that sister.

From Science Magazine

Their closest relatives that still live today include sponges, sea anemones and comb jellies.

From Scientific American

Recently, Maike Kittelmann, a cell biologist at Oxford Brookes University, and her colleagues froze comb jelly larvae so that they could get a microscopic look at their nervous system.

From New York Times

And the same goes for its liquid cousin, jelly.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• gelatin