bagel

[ bey-guhl ]

/ ˈbeɪ gəl /

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noun

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

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Origin of bagel

1930–35; <Yiddish beygl; compare dialectal German Beugel<Germanic *baug- ring (see bee²) + *-il- noun suffix

Words nearby bagel

bagassosis, bagatelle, Bagdad, B.Ag.E., Bagehot, bagel, bagful, baggage, baggage car, baggage handler, baggagemaster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bagel in a sentence

If you love bagels, you’ll probably want one with wider slots.
Best toaster: Get perfectly golden slices every time|PopSci Commerce Team|February 10, 2021|Popular-Science
We slice bagels into ½ -inch slices vertically instead of slicing the bagel once horizontally.
Hints From Heloise: A stocked hall closet is lesson for the pandemic and beyond|Heloise Heloise|January 14, 2021|Washington Post
Someday in the not-too-distant future you might be able to nosh on a bagel with real schmear that doesn’t contribute to the climate crisis.
The wildest engineering innovations of 2020|By Sara Chodosh and Andrew Rosenblum|December 3, 2020|Popular-Science
Crosby joked that he grew up in “a tough neighborhood,” where he was part of a gang that also included a pickpocket known as “One-Finger Louie” who stole nothing but bagels and doughnuts.
Norm Crosby, comedian who mangled words with great extinction, dies at 93|Harrison Smith|November 9, 2020|Washington Post

This two-slice toaster from Breville has a five-stage browning dial and buttons for bagel, frozen, cancel, and “a bit more.”
These pieces of kitchen gear make excellent gifts|PopSci Commerce Team|October 6, 2020|Popular-Science
He orders a toasted bagel and asks to charge it to a room he is certainly not staying in.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal|Olivia Nuzzi|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Teachout took a question on redistricting and another on her favorite kind of bagel.
Can New York Democrat Zephyr Teachout Stop Governor Andrew Cuomo?|David Freedlander|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He puts a bagel in the conveyer toaster, but it never comes out the other end.
‘The Leftovers’ Review: A Fever Dream You Can’t Wake Up From|Andrew Romano|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He reaches in—and pulls out the charred bagel, one half at a time.
‘The Leftovers’ Review: A Fever Dream You Can’t Wake Up From|Andrew Romano|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Just this morning, while enjoying breakfast at a chain bagel shop, I was entertained with 30 minutes of uninterrupted jazz.
Jazz (The Music of Coffee and Donuts) Has Respect, But It Needs Love|Ted Gioia|June 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But donner and bagel, what need you be so curious about the life of this boy, who is neither your bloot nor kin?
Quentin Durward|Sir Walter Scott
The traffic was mostly bicycling bankers stopping for a fresh bagel on their way down to the business district.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town|Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for bagel

bagel

beigel

/ (ˈbeɪɡəl) /

noun

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

Word Origin for bagel

C20: from Yiddish beygel, ultimately from Old High German boug ring

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