kelly
kelly Lexical Profile
kelly Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Of a vivid, intense shade of yellowish green associated with Ireland.
"She wore a bright kelly scarf to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day."
• noun
A vivid, strong yellowish-green color, more commonly called kelly green.
"The athletic uniforms were dyed in a striking shade of kelly."
A heavy steel pipe with a square, hexagonal, or octagonal cross-section suspended at the top of an oil or gas drilling string to transmit rotary motion from the rotary table to the drill pipe.
"The rig crew lowered the kelly through the rotary bushing before resuming drilling operations."
American A stiff straw hat, typically a boater or derby, worn especially by men in the early twentieth century.
"In the vintage photograph, the vaudeville performer tipped his straw kelly toward the camera."
• Rhymes for kelly
Word Origin & Etymology
The color sense derives from the common Irish surname Kelly (anglicized from Irish Ó Ceallaigh), by association with Ireland as the Emerald Isle. The oil-drilling pipe is likely an eponym after an American oilfield worker or inventor named Kelly in the early 20th century.