Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

jelly

Syllabification: (jel·ly)
Pronunciation: /ˈjelē/
Translate jelly | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of jelly

noun (plural jellies)

  • a sweet, clear, semisolid, somewhat elastic spread or preserve made from fruit juice and sugar boiled to a thick consistency.
  • used figuratively and in similes to refer to sensations of fear or strong emotion:her legs felt like jelly
  • a condiment with a consistency similar to fruit jelly:roast duck with jalapeño jelly
  • a gelatinous savory preparation made by boiling meat and bones.
  • any substance of a gelatinous consistency:spermicidal jellies frogs lay eggs coated in jelly
  • chiefly British a sweet, fruit-flavored gelatin dessert.
  • (jellies) jelly shoes.

verb (jellies, jellied)

[with object] (usually as adjective jellied)
  • set (food) as or in a jelly:jellied cranberry sauce jellied eels

Derivatives

jellification

Pronunciation: /ˌjeləfiˈkāSHən/
noun

jellify

Pronunciation: /ˈjeləˌfī/
verb

jellylike

Pronunciation: /-ˌlīk/
adjective

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French gelée 'frost, jelly', from Latin gelata 'frozen', from gelare 'freeze', from gelu 'frost'

jelly in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of jelly in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

ludology

/ luːˈdɒlədʒi /
noun
the study of games and gaming, especially video games …