gel

Etymology 1

Coined by Thomas Graham in the mid 19th century as a clipping of gelatin, from French gélatine, from Italian gelatina, diminutive form of gelata (“iced”), from Latin gelata, past participle of gelo (“to freeze”), from gelu (“frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”)

noun

1. A semi-solid to almost solid colloid of a solid and a liquid, such as jelly, cheese or opal.
   Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads. 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200
2. Any gel intended for a particular cosmetic use, such as for styling the hair.

verb

1. (transitive) To apply (cosmetic) gel to (the hair, etc).
   It ended, as it so often does, with that familiar smile. Cristiano Ronaldo – gelled hair, dazzling teeth, magic in his boots – will never forget the night he scored the 600th goal of an almost implausible career. 3 June 2017, Daniel Taylor, “Real Madrid win Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo double defeats Juv”, in The Guardian (London)
2. (intransitive) To become a gel.
3. (intransitive) To develop a rapport.
   He was a nice guy, and I got on OK with his friends, but the two of us never really gelled.
4. (intransitive, figurative) To come together to form something; to cohere.
   We put our ideas together and they eventually gelled into a saleable product.

Etymology 2

Imitative of upper-class British pronunciation of girl.

noun

1. (Britain, slang) A girl.