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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

nail Jell-O to a wall en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of nail Jell-O to a tree.
    • Writing objective history or raising a teenager may be like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall, as those and other challenging tasks have been popularly analogized. 2016, Robert Kerr, How Postmodernism Explains Football and Football Explains Postmodernism:
    • We know how much the Internet has changed America. And we are already an open society. Imagine how much it could change China. Now, there is no question – China has been trying to crack down on the Internet. Good luck. That's sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. 2000 March 8, 32:26 from the start, in Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China, spoken by Bill Clinton, via C-SPAN, retrieved 17 Jun 2025:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
nailing Jell-O to a wall Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
nails Jell-O to a wall Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
nailed Jell-O to a wall Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
nailed Jell-O to a wall Tense=Past lexicographic