bagel

American  

[bey-guhl] / ˈbeɪ gəl /

noun

1. a leavened, doughnut-shaped, firm-textured roll, with a brownish glazed surface, made of dough first poached and then baked.

---

bagel British  

/ ˈbeɪɡəl /

noun

1. a hard ring-shaped bread roll, characteristic of Jewish baking

---

Etymology

Origin of bagel

1930–35; < Yiddish beygl; compare dialectal German Beugel < Germanic *baug- ring ( bee ² ) + *-il- noun suffix

Compare meaning

How does bagel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• bialy vs. bagel

Example Sentences

The defending Olympic champs from up north had never taken a bagel in the Games before.

From The Wall Street Journal

The pilot opened a bag and took out a bagel.

From Literature

Fatty slices of avocado, dusted with everything bagel seasoning or drizzled in chili crisp?

From Salon

At school, Coal took his egg on a bagel and box of chocolate milk to the science lab.

From Literature

The Czech player finally held for 1-5 to avoid a dreaded bagel, but it just delayed the inevitable with Gauff taking the set in 30 minutes.

From Barron's