Jelly

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈdʒɛl.i/
• Rhymes: -ɛli

• Audio (US)

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Etymology

Old French gelee, from geler (“to congeal”), from Latin gelū.

Noun

Jelly (countable and uncountable; plural jellies)

1. (New Zealand, Australian, UK) A dessert made by boiling gelatine, sugar and some flavouring (often derived from fruit) and allowing it to set
2. A clear or translucent fruit preserve, made from fruit juice and set using either naturally occurring, or added, pectin
   • 1945, Fannie Merritt Farmer and w:Wilma Lord Perkins revisor, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Eighth edition:

     Perfect jelly is of appetizing flavor; beautifully colored and translucent; tender enough to cut easily with a spoon, yet firm enough to hold its shape when turned from the glass.

   • 1975, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, The Joy of Cooking, 5th revision:

     Jelly has great clarity. Two cooking processes are involved. First, the juice alone is extracted from the fruit. Only that portion thin and clear enough to drip through a cloth is cooked with sugar until sufficiently firm to hold its shape. It is never stiff and never gummy.

3. (zoology) Short for jellyfish.
4. (slang, now rare) A pretty girl; a girlfriend.
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 25:

     ‘Gowan goes to Oxford a lot,’ the boy said. ‘He's got a jelly there.’

5. (US, slang) A large backside, especially a woman's.
   • 2001, Destiny's Child, “Bootylicious” (song)

     I shake my jelly at every chance / When I whip with my hips you slip into a trance

   • 2001, George Dell, Dance Unto the Lord, page 94:

     At that Sister Samantha seemed to shake her jelly so that she sank back into her chair.

6. (colloquial) Short for gelignite.
7. (colloquial) A jelly shoe.
   • 2006, David L. Marcus, What It Takes to Pull Me Through:

     Mary Alice gazed at a picture of herself wearing jellies and an oversized turquoise T-shirt that matched her eyes […]

Synonyms

• (dessert made by boiling gelatin): (US) jello, Jell-O

Derived terms

• comb jelly
• jellification
• jellify
• jelly baby
• jelly bean
• jelly bracelet
• jellyfish
• jellylike
• royal jelly

Translations

dessert

Catalan: gelatina (ca) f. Finnish: hyytelö (fi) French: gelée (fr) f. German: Gelee (de) n., Sulz (de) Greek: ζελές (el) m., ζελέ (el) n. Hungarian: zselé (hu) Italian: gelatina (it) f. Japanese: ゼリー (ja) (zerī)

Latvian: želeja (lv) f. Lithuanian: želė (lt) f., drebučiai (lt) pl. Macedonian: желе (mk) n. Persian: ژله (fa) Portuguese: gelatina (pt) Romanian: jeleu (ro) n. Russian: желе (ru) (žel'é) n. Spanish: gelatina (es) f., jalea (es) f.

sweet gelatinous substance derived from fruit juices and pectin

Czech: želé (cs) n. French: gelée (fr) f. German: Gelee (de) n.

Russian: желе (ru) (žel'é) n. Spanish: dulce (es) m.

jam

Catalan: melmelada (ca) f. Dutch: gelei (nl) Finnish: hillo (fi) French: confiture (fr) f. German: Marmelade (de) f., Gelle (de) n. Italian: marmellata (it) f. Japanese: ジャム (ja) (jamu)

Latin: cylon (la) Mandarin: 果酱 (cmn) (guǒjiàng) Portuguese: geléia (pt) Romanian: marmeladă (ro) f. Russian: джем (ru) (džem) m., мармелад (ru) (marm'elád) m. Spanish: mermelada (es) f., confitura (es) f. Swedish: sylt (sv), marmelad (sv)

sieved jam

Dutch: gelei (nl) Finnish: marmeladi (fi)

German: Gelee (de) n. Italian: gelatina (it) f.

large backside

French: gros cul Italian: culone (it) m.

Russian: жопа (ru) f.

Verb

Jelly (third-person singular simple present jellies, present participle jellying, simple past and past participle jellied)

1. To wiggle like jelly.
2. To make jelly.ar:jelly