Bristol

American  

[bris-tl] / ˈbrɪs tl /

noun

1. a seaport in Avon, in southwestern England, on the Avon River near its confluence with the Severn estuary.

2. a city in central Connecticut.

3. a township in southeastern Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River.

4. a deepwater seaport in eastern Rhode Island.

5. a city in northeastern Tennessee, contiguous to but politically independent of Bristol, Virginia.

6. a city in southwestern Virginia, contiguous to but politically independent of Bristol, Tennessee.

7. a bi-state region comprising the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee, and Bristol, Virginia.

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Bristol British  

/ ˈbrɪstəl /

noun

1. a port and industrial city in SW England, mainly in Bristol unitary authority, on the River Avon seven miles from its mouth on the Bristol Channel: a major port, trading with America, in the 17th and 18th centuries; the modern port consists chiefly of docks at Avonmouth and Portishead; noted for the Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed by I. K. Brunel, 1834) over the Avon gorge; Bristol university (1909) and University of the West of England (1992). Pop: 420 556 (2001)

2. a unitary authority in SW England, created in 1996 from part of Avon county. Pop: 391 500 (2003 est). Area: 110 sq km (42 sq miles)

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Example Sentences

Nathan and his brother Ronnie Freeman run the Industry bar on Gloucester Road in Bristol.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

He remained in the water holding on as the pair drifted in the strong Bristol Channel currents.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

But the U.K. branch of the polyglot style sometimes called post-rock included Bristol groups such as Movietone and Crescent, who mixed and matched dub rhythms, folk instrumentation, and electronics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

Despite numbering only about 2,000 individuals, the Bristol Bay belugas showed high levels of genetic diversity and relatively little evidence of inbreeding.

From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2026

So off we set, my mother and I and my trunk and my tuck-box, and we boarded the paddle-steamer and went swooshing across the Bristol Channel in a shower of spray.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl