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gel

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gel

[jel] noun, verb, gelled, gel⋅ling.
–noun
1. Physical Chemistry. a semirigid colloidal dispersion of a solid with a liquid or gas, as jelly, glue, etc.
2. Theater. gelatin (def. 5).
3. Biochemistry. a semirigid polymer, as agarose, starch, cellulose acetate, or polyacrylamide, cast into slabs or cylinders for the electrophoretic separation of proteins and nucleic acids.
–verb (used without object)
4. to form or become a gel.
5. jell (def. 2).

Origin:
1895–1900; shortening of gelatin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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gel   (jěl)   
n.  
  1. A colloid in which the disperse phase has combined with the dispersion medium to produce a semisolid material, such as a jelly.

  2. See gelatin.

  3. A jellylike substance used in styling hair.

v.   gelled, gel·ling, gels

v.   intr.
To become a gel.
v.   tr.
To apply a gel to (the hair).

[Short for gelatin.]
gel'a·ble adj.
gel·a·tin also gel·a·tine   (jěl'ə-tn)   
n.  
    1. A colorless or slightly yellow, transparent, brittle protein formed by boiling the specially prepared skin, bones, and connective tissue of animals and used in foods, drugs, and photographic film.

    2. Any of various similar substances.

  1. A jelly made with gelatin, used as a dessert or salad base.

  2. A thin sheet made of colored gelatin used in theatrical lighting. Also called gel.


[French gélatine, from Italian gelatina, diminutive of gelata, jelly, from feminine past participle of gelare, to freeze, from Latin gelāre; see gel- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
gel [dʒɛl]

  1. in.
    to relax and let one's hair down. : I've got to go home and gel for a while. Things are too stressful just now.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

gel 
1899, as a chemical term, short for gelatin, perhaps infl. by jell. The invention of this word is credited to Thomas Graham, who died in 1869. Hair-styling sense is from 1958. The verb meaning "to become a gel" is from 1917; fig. sense is from 1958.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1gel
Pronunciation: 'jel
Function: noun
: a colloid in a more solid form than a sol

Main Entry: 2gel
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: gelled; gel·ling
: to change into or take on the form of a gel —gel·able /'jel-&-b&l/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

gel (jěl)
n.
A colloid in which the disperse phase combines with the dispersion medium to produce a semisolid material. v. gelled, gel·ling, gels

  1. To become a gel.

  2. To convert a sol into a gel.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
gel
gelatin
GEL
Georgia—lari (currency)
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

gel

coherent mass consisting of a liquid in which particles too small to be seen in an ordinary optical microscope are either dispersed or arranged in a fine network throughout the mass. A gel may be notably elastic and jellylike (as gelatin or fruit jelly), or quite solid and rigid (as silica gel, a material that looks like coarse white sand and is used as a dehumidifier). Gels are colloids (aggregates of fine particles, as described above, dispersed in a continuous medium) in which the liquid medium has become viscous enough to behave more or less as a solid. Contraction of a gel, causing separation of liquid from it, is called syneresis. Compare sol

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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