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jerry

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Jerry¹

  • /ˈd͡ʒɛɹi/

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

Where it comes from

Clipping + -y.

proper noun Jerrys · Jerries · Gerry · Jheri · Geri

  1. A diminutive of the male given names Gerald, Gerard, Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jared, Jerome, Jermaine, Jerrold, and similar male given names. We stated in our last that the award in this class was sent to Fowler & Vannatta’s Jerry, but this was a mistake which arose from the fact that there were two Jerrys in this class and both of them grade Herefords, one from Benton County, Ind., and one shown by Wallace Libby & Co., Ottawa, Ill. When
  2. A diminutive of the female given names Geraldine and Jerilyn.
  3. An unincorporated community in Asotin County, Washington, United States; named for early rancher Jerry McGuire.

Jerry²

  • /ˈd͡ʒɛɹi/

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

noun Jerries

  1. Alternative letter-case form of jerry (“a chamber pot”).

Jerry³

  • /ˈd͡ʒɛɹi/

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

Where it comes from

Clipping of German + -y. Popularized during World War I.

proper noun jerry · geri · gerri

  1. UK, US, dated, ethnic, slur A personification of the German people. Phipps went on: “One of our chaps, out on a reccy over the Bulgarian front, thought he saw something in the snow. Something fishy. He dropped down to have a dekko and nearly had kittens. What d'you think? Jerry's got a mass of stuff there—tanks, guns, lorries, every sort of heavy armament. All camou

noun Jerries · jerry · geri · gerri

  1. UK, US, dated, ethnic, slur A German, particularly a male German. But Robert had been cheeriness itself, had told them to buck up and think of England, reminding them that moaning wasn’t going to beat the Jerries.

    Similar: Boche, Fritz, Kraut

jerry⁴

  • /ˈdʒɛɹi/ UK

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

Where it comes from

Probably an abbreviation of jeroboam.

noun jerries

  1. Ireland, UK, slang A chamber pot. We used chamber-pots a good deal – ‘jerries’ – cause of much hilarity doe to the hostilities.

    Similar: chamber pot

jerry⁵

  • /ˈdʒɛɹi/ UK

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

Where it comes from

Short for jerrybuild or jerry-built.

verb jerries · jerrying · jerried

  1. dated Synonym of jerrybuild.

    Similar: jerrybuild

adjective

  1. dated, not comparable Jerry-built. If a man builds a jerry-house, he has a jerry conscience; and there are a lot of consciences of that description going about.

jerry⁶

  • /ˈdʒɛɹi/ UK

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

Where it comes from

Alternative forms.

noun jerries

  1. ethnic, slur Alternative letter-case form of Jerry (“a German”).

    Similar: German

jerry⁷

  • /ˈdʒɛɹi/ UK

Rhymes with -ɛɹi

noun jerries

  1. UK, obsolete A watch (timepiece). Watch stealing, or jerry getting, as the thieving fraternity designate the operation, is carried on to a considerable extent all the year round.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hun, krauthead, boche, kraut, jimmy, gerry, jared, jaime, justin, juan, joelle, giri, willie, perry, jiri, jer

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"jerry." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/jerry. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

jerry. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/jerry

Chicago

"jerry." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/jerry.

BibTeX
@misc{jerry_2026,
  title = {jerry},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/jerry},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}