jerry1
/ˈdʒɛri
/noun (plural jerries) British informal, dated
A chamber pot.
Origin
Mid 19th century: probably a diminutive of jeroboam.
Rhymes
jerry2
/ˈdʒɛri/Australian /NZ informal
verb (jerries, jerrying, jerried) [no object]
Understand or realize: I still hadn’t jerried what was going on
noun
A close or investigative look.
Phrases
take a jerry to
Origin
Late 19th century: from US slang, in the phrase to be jerry (to) 'to be wise to; to understand', of unknown origin.
Jerry3
/ˈdʒɛri/noun (plural Jerries) British informal, derogatory
1A German (especially in military contexts).And when the Berlin Wall came down, souvenir-hunters were greeted by the graffiti legend: ‘Built by Jerries, demolished by Oz’....
- Those Jerries had so much more firepower and range, and I saw that we were losing valuable men trying to move up.
- England was an ally and they couldn't hold out for too much longer if the Jerries kept up the relentless bombing.
1.1 [in singular] The Germans collectively: Jerry has some 200 dive-bombers at Spitzbergen...
- An example was the day up in the Liri Valley, when we got bounced by a Jerry formation which included two captured P - 40s with crosses on them.
Origin
First World War: probably an alteration of German.