The css() method sets or returns one or more style properties for the selected elements.

Return a CSS Property

To return the value of a specified CSS property, use the following syntax:

css("propertyname");

The following example will return the background-color value of the FIRST matched element:

$("p").css("background-color");

Set a CSS Property

To set a specified CSS property, use the following syntax:

css("propertyname","value");

The following example will set the background-color value for ALL matched elements:

$("p").css("background-color","yellow");

Set Multiple CSS Properties

To set multiple CSS properties, use the following syntax:
css({"propertyname":"value","propertyname":"value",...});

The following example will set a background-color and a font-size for ALL matched elements:

$("p").css({"background-color":"yellow","font-size":"200%"});