glycerin jelly
- noun
- /ˈɡlɪsərɪn ˈdʒɛli/
- Specialized
- The specimen was mounted on a slide using glycerin jelly to preserve its structure.
Examples
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She covered the tissue sample with glycerin jelly before placing a cover slip on top.
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Laboratories often prepare their own glycerin jelly for histological work.
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The lab uses glycerin jelly for mounting specimens.
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Did you prepare the glycerin jellies for the experiment?
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Laboratories often prepare their own glycerin jelly for histological work.
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She covered the tissue sample with glycerin jelly before placing a cover slip on top.
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The specimen was mounted on a slide using glycerin jelly to preserve its structure.
Synonyms
A soft jelly used as a base for ointments and suppositories
A soft medicine base made from glycerin and gelatin for skin dressings
A soft jelly made from glycerin that is used as a base for skin medicine
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: a B1 learner who knows 'glycerin' and 'jelly' will readily infer it is a jelly-like substance made from or containing glycerin. Although its specific technical use in histology (mounting specimens) is specialized, that pragmatic detail does not prevent the lexical meaning from being transparently derived from the constituents.
Etymology
Glycerin jelly comes from the way the substance looks and works: a clear, soft mix of glycerin and gelatin that acts like a sticky jelly and holds tiny samples under a microscope. Because this jelly keeps the sample moist and in place, labs use it to 'put samples on a slide' and 'preserve' them, so the name refers to that specific mounting mixture.