See Also: Jelly(medicine)
sea jelly(medicine)
jelly and jam(encyclopedia)
jelly(dictionary)
jelly(dictionary)
jelly roll(dictionary)
jelly baby(dictionary)
petroleum jelly(dictionary)
jelly (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Bramble jelly(recipes)

jelly (iou)



jelly noun1 & verb. LME.
[Old & mod. French gelee frost, jelly, from use as noun of Latin gelata fem. pa. pple of gelare freeze, from gelu frost.]
A. noun.
An item of food having the form of a soft, firm, somewhat elastic, usu. semi-transparent material made by cooling (in a mould or dish) a liquid preparation containing gelatin etc. and (orig.) meat or fish stock, (now more commonly) sweetened fruit juice, etc.; a flavoured and coloured product from which a similar substance can be made; a dessert made of this. Also, a conserve of fruit boiled with sugar and strained. LME.
blackcurrant jelly, redcurrant jelly, etc. table jelly: see TABLE noun.
Punch He shook all over like a badly-set jelly. T. Sterling The lamb was tender...She ate the mint jelly separately. R. Godden My favourite, a pink fruit jelly..I ate it all.
b. Gelatin. E-M19.
Matter with the consistency of a jelly; a gelatinous substance or object of any kind. E17.
mineral jelly: see MINERAL adjective. PETROLEUM jelly. royal jelly the secretion produced by honey bees to feed the larvae of the colony, esp. those that will become queens. WHARTON's jelly.
V. Nabokov A brain of a different brand than that of the synthetic jellies preserved in the skulls around him. Guardian Her doctor..prescribed a diaphragm and a contraceptive jelly. B. Byars Normally this would have turned his knees to jelly.
b. A gelatinous mass formed by the alga Nostoc on soil, formerly supposed to be the remains of a fallen meteor. M17.
c. With specifying word (esp. sea): a jellyfish or similar animal. L17.
comb-jelly: see COMB noun1.
d. A tablet of the drug Temazepam. slang. L20.
Comb.: jelly baby a soft gelatinous sweet in the shape of a baby; jelly bag: through which fruit pulp is strained in the making of jelly; jelly bean (orig. US) (a) a bean-shaped sweet with a gelatinous centre and a hard sugar coating; (b) slang an unpleasant, weak, or dishonest person; spec. a pimp; jelly-bellied adjective (slang) fat; jelly-belly slang a fat person; jelly paint a non-drip paint with the consistency of jelly; jelly-plant any of various Australian seaweeds from which commercial gelling agents are extracted; jelly powder a crystalline powder used in the preparation of jellies; jelly roll N. Amer. (a) a cylindrical cake containing jelly or jam; (b) slang a lover; sexual intercourse; the vagina; jelly sandal, jelly shoe a sandal made from brightly coloured or translucent moulded plastic.
b. verb. Cf. earlier JELLIED adjective.
verb intrans. Come to the consistency of jelly; set as a jelly; congeal, solidify, coagulate. E17.
verb trans. Convert into jelly; cause to set or coagulate; reduce to the consistency of jelly. E17.
jellygraph noun & verb (obsolete exc. Hist.) (a) noun an appliance used for copying documents etc., of which the essential part is a sheet of jelly; (b) verb trans. copy with a jellygraph: E20.
jelly-like adjective resembling (that of) jelly, esp. having the consistency of jelly L18.