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gel

noun
/d͡ʒɛl//ɡɛl/

Etymology

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”). For the meaning development compare with Russian сту́день (stúdenʹ, “aspic, jelly, gel”) related to студёный (studjónyj, “cold”).

  1. derived from *gel-✻
  2. derived from gelatus
  3. derived from gelatina
  4. derived from gélatine

Definitions

  1. A semi-solid to almost solid colloid of a solid and a liquid, such as jelly, cheese or…

    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.
    • Researchers have developed a new gel they say is as durable as metal, has the flexibility of jello, and could revolutionize how our bodies heal and age.

  2. Any gel intended for a particular cosmetic use, such as for styling the hair.

  3. A film of flexible transparent plastic (such as acetate, celluloid, or cellophane)…

    A film of flexible transparent plastic (such as acetate, celluloid, or cellophane) suitable for making superimpositions or diapositives (image to overlay on other images, especially for overhead projectors); a digital virtual equivalent of this.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. 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.

    2. To become a gel

      To become a gel: to set up.

    3. 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. To come together to form something

      To come together to form something; to cohere.

      • We put our ideas together and they eventually gelled into a saleable product.

    5. A girl.

      • "Now pray don't be troublesome, my dear gel," said Uncle Andrew.

The neighborhood

Derived

aerogel, alcogel, biogel, chalcogel, cryogel, energy gel, ferrogel, gel bracelet, gelcoat, gel electrophoresis, gelless, gel pen, hair gel, hand gel, hydrogel, incendigel, ionogel, light gel, macrogel, microgel, minigel, mucigel, nanogel, organogel, pepper gel, piping gel, pseudogel, semenogelin, shaving gel, shower gel, silica gel, softgel, sol-gel, sonogel, thermal gel, thermogel, tightening gel, xerogel, nongelling, thermogelling

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for gel. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA