jelly

Etymology 1

From Middle English gele, from Old French gelee (“frost”), from Early Medieval Latin gelāta, from Latin gelāre (“freeze”).

noun

1. (New Zealand, Australia, Britain) A dessert made by boiling gelatine, sugar and some flavouring (often derived from fruit) and allowing it to set, known as "jello" in North America.
2. (Canada, US, Britain (certain specific usages)) A clear or translucent fruit preserve, made from fruit juice and set using either naturally occurring, or added, pectin. Normally known as "jam" in Commonwealth English but see redcurrant jelly and jeely
   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. 1945, Fannie Merritt Farmer and Wilma Lord Perkins (revisor), The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Eighth edition
   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. 1975, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, The Joy of Cooking, 5th revision
3. (Caribbean, Jamaica) Clipping of jelly coconut.
4. A savoury substance, derived from meat, that has the same texture as the dessert.
5. Any substance or object having the consistency of jelly.
   calf's-foot jelly
   Sam floored him perpetually, and beat his face to a jelly, without getting a scratch. 1821, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 8, page 67
6. (zoology) A jellyfish.
   Species of the phylum Cnidaria – the classic jelly – have existed in something close to their current form for at least 565 million years; Ctenophora, the comb jellies, are not much younger. 2014, Theo Tait, ‘Water-Borne Zombies’, London Review of Books, volume 36, number 5
7. (slang, now rare) A pretty girl; a girlfriend.
   ‘Gowan goes to Oxford a lot,’ the boy said. ‘He′s got a jelly there.’ 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 25
8. (US, slang) A large backside, especially a woman's.
   I shake my jelly at every chance / When I whip with my hips you slip into a trance 2001, Destiny's Child, “Bootylicious” (song)
   At that Sister Samantha seemed to shake her jelly so that she sank back into her chair. 2001, George Dell, Dance Unto the Lord, page 94
9. (colloquial) Clipping of gelignite.
10. (colloquial) A jelly shoe.
    Mary Alice gazed at a picture of herself wearing jellies and an oversized turquoise T-shirt that matched her eyes […] 2006, David L. Marcus, What It Takes to Pull Me Through
11. (colloquial, US) Blood.

verb

1. (transitive) To make into jelly.
2. (transitive) To preserve in jelly.
3. To wiggle like jelly.

Etymology 2

Clipping of jealous + -y (informal adjective ending).

adj

1. (slang) Jealous.
   If the guy wants to party and bang porn stars, and he's not hurting anyone who really cares? I think a lot of guys are just jelly! :-) 28 February 2011, Abby Normal [username], “Re: OT VERY FUNNY: MY NEW HERO CHARLIE SHEEN”, in rec.games.pinball (Usenet)
   "I think other people make rude comments because they're jelly [jealous] bro," Schroer said. "We're just showing our love to other people." 2011, "Exchange smiles, not saliva", The Banner (Grand Blanc High School), Volume 47, Issue 2, December 2011, page 17
   Shame on all you haters out there! You’re all just jelly! 10 January 2012, pussykatt [username], “BLIND GOSSIP 01/09/12 **BLIND ITEM 2**”, in alt.gossip.celebrities (Usenet)

Etymology 3

noun

1. (India) Vitrified brick refuse used as metal in building roads.
   Under pinning with jelly in chunam — one square. 1862, Notes on Building and Road-making, with Rules for Estimating Repairs to Tanks and Channels, page 143