jelled

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitivefigurative

   Became clear, settled and successful, as when ideas, plans or a group of people start to fit together well.

   Grammar: No object: the plan jelled.

   Patterns

   • something jelled
   • jelled into something

   After a few rehearsals the band finally jelled.

   Her ideas jelled during the long train ride.

   The team never really jelled, so the season went badly.

2. 2verbintransitive

   Became firm or semi-solid, as a liquid does when it sets into a jelly.

   Grammar: No object: the juice jelled overnight.

   Patterns

   • something jelled overnight

   The fruit juice jelled in the fridge overnight.

   The jam had not jelled, so it stayed runny.

   Once the mixture jelled, we cut it into squares.

Word forms

Common combinations

finally jelled

The project finally jelled in the third week.

jelled together

The group jelled together quickly.

never jelled

The proposal never jelled into anything workable.

jelled nicely

The pieces of the story jelled nicely.

Synonyms and how they differ

gelled

Gelled is just a variant spelling with exactly the same meaning.

set

Set is the plain word for a liquid becoming firm, but it is less common for ideas coming together.

coalesced

Coalesced is more formal and fits things merging into one whole rather than a plan clicking.

clicked

Clicked is more casual and suggests a sudden, easy fit between people.

Opposites

Word family

jell verb

base form: to set or come together

jelling verb

-ing form

jelly noun

a soft, set food made with fruit or gelatin

gel verb

a variant spelling of jell

Commonly confused: jelled or gelled?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “jelled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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