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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

jerry-built en · ADJ

Etymology

Unknown; there are many theories. I was led to believe it referred to houses built by German pow’s See jerry (possibly etymologically related).

Meanings

  1. Built cheaply and shoddily.
    • 1832, Liverpool Mercury, ‘…members of the Bluebell Club, the Jerry-Building society, &c…’ (via https://theprioryandthecastironshore.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/jerry-builder-origin-of-the-term/)
    • He had tried other building speculations, had run up other “jerry-built” houses, and had failed utterly, hopelessly. 1859, August 6, Albany Fonblanque, Junr., Once a Week, article Sebastopol Villa
    • Reigns supreme for jerry-built Houses tricked out with gorgeous gilt, Like cakes o' gingerbread, that crumble, And in another century 'll tumble 1859, L. B. E, Cottoniron; a Poem, part 1, canto 3:

Deriveds

jerry-rigged

Relateds

jerry-build · scratch-built · shoddy · jerrybuilder · jury-rigged · jerry-builder

Translations (13)

cs chatrný (built cheaply) · cs fušersky postavený (built cheaply) · fr vite fait (built cheaply) · de stümperhaft gebaut (built cheaply) · cmn 豆腐渣 (built cheaply) · cs stavěný narychlo (built cheaply) · fi juosten kustu (built cheaply) · de schlampig gebaut (built cheaply) · pl zbudowany tandetnie (built cheaply) · fr bâclé (built cheaply) · de zusammengepfuscht (built cheaply) · sh sklepan (built cheaply) · cmn 偷工減料建成的 /偷工减料建成的 (built cheaply)