# gel

/ˈdʒɛɫ/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/gel
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 2. hair or skin product

noun · CEFR A2

a thick liquid you put on your hair to style it or on your skin to clean it.

For teachers: a cosmetic or medicinal preparation with a jelly-like consistency, commonly used for hair styling or topical skin application.

- He used a little bit of hair gel to keep his hair in place for the wedding.
- The athlete applied a cooling muscle gel to his legs immediately after finishing the marathon to reduce inflammation.

### 3. to work well together

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

when people or ideas start to work well together as a group.

For teachers: to develop a rapport or to begin working effectively together as a cohesive unit.

- The new team took a few weeks to gel, but now they are very productive.
- Despite their different backgrounds, the members of the task force began to gel after the first week of intensive collaboration.

### 4. to become solid

verb · CEFR B2

to change from a liquid into a thick, jelly-like state.

For teachers: to undergo a transition from a liquid state to a semi-solid or colloidal state.

- Leave the mixture in the fridge for two hours until it starts to gel.
- The solution will begin to gel once the cooling agent is introduced, provided the pH levels remain stable.

### 6. a girl

noun · CEFR C2 · British English · Slang · Archaic

a slang word for a girl, mostly used in older British English.

For teachers: a phonetic spelling of 'girl', representing a specific upper-class British pronunciation.

- She's a jolly good gel, always helping out at the village fair.
- In the vintage comic novel, the protagonist refers to his fiancée as a 'splendid gel' who enjoys hunting and tennis.

## Examples

- He puts a little gel in his hair every morning.
- The athlete applied a cooling gel to her sore muscles after finishing the marathon to reduce the swelling.
- Modern pharmaceutical delivery systems often utilize a specialized gel to ensure that active ingredients are absorbed through the skin at a steady, controlled rate over several hours.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.