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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.


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)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The proof-of-concept study followed 60 patients in Bristol, Bergen, Stockholm, and Athens over a 24-hour period.

From Science Daily Sep. 14, 2026

“You’re a sociopath,” he flatly tells a Bristol gangster.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 9, 2026

At Bristol Crown Court, Judge Anna Richardson sentenced Reed to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.

From BBC Sep. 4, 2026

The budget was more than £20m, and Aardman insisted every frame would be shot in Bristol.

From BBC Sep. 4, 2026

Newspapers reported that even in Bristol, a port city with a harbor filled with slave ships, “the popular sentiment has been very strongly expressed against the continuance of that traffick in human flesh.”

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

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