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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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Sensitive Note

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

Mortars lay in the sand, rice spilling out of them; jerry cans leaked water, and fires were left unattended under cooking huts.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

Team president Stephen Jones and chief sales and marketing officer Jerry Jones Jr. gave $122,000 and $100,000, respectively.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026

The merry-go-round also became a gathering spot for a candlelight vigil when the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia died in 1995.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Along with Jerry Seinfeld, a comedy-club pal, Mr. David was instrumental in conceiving the premise of “Seinfeld,” which began as an exploration of how a comedian gets his ideas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

"It was fascinating seeing Jerry and Hannah come back," said Miranda Hart.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 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

Last week the same boy, now 21, took off in a Hurricane, swept around the Channel looking for Jerries, came back to earth on a sodden British airfield.

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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

He was stunting so wildly and slamming lead so fast the Jerries began giving him a wide berth.

From A Yankee Flier Over Berlin by Paul Laune

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