As nouns the difference between petrels and nelly
is that petrels is plural of petrel while nelly is life.
As an adjective nelly is
unmanly, effeminate.
As a proper noun Nelly is
a spelling variant of Nellie, a diminutive of the female given names Eleanor and Helen.
petrels
English
Noun
(head)
Anagrams
*
*
nelly
English
Etymology 1
Shortened from Nelly Duff'', for ''puff'', i.e. breath of ''life
Noun
(-) (not used in the plural)
(Cockney rhyming slang) Life.
Usage notes
* Used principally in the phrase (not on your nelly).
Etymology 2
From the woman's name, Nelly
Noun
(nellies)
(derogatory, slang) An effeminate homosexual man.
(British, slang) A silly person.
A common name for the giant petrels, Macronectes giganteus'' and ''Macronectes halli
Hyponyms
* (petrel) Antarctic giant petrel, northern piant petrel, southern giant fulmar, southern giant petrel
Adjective
(er)
(slang) Unmanly, effeminate.