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.

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bagel British  

/ ˈbeɪɡəl /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of bagel

1930–35; < Yiddish beygl; compare dialectal German Beugel < Germanic *baug- ring ( see 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

Explanation

A bagel is a kind of baked good made by boiling and then baking a circle of dough until the inside is chewy and the outside is slightly crisp. New York is famous for having many great bagel shops. A bagel is a traditional Jewish roll that's shaped like a doughnut and often served sliced in half, toasted, and spread with butter or cream cheese. New Yorkers claim that their city has the best bagels in the world, although Montreal is also known for its delicious bagels. The word is from the Yiddish beygl, with an Old High German root, boug, or "ring," which describes a bagel's shape.

Example Sentences

Other variations he has made, including riffs on a California roll and a smoked salmon bagel, have also gone viral.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

The Order: The sesame bagel is lovely on its own—or spackled with a schmear of pastrami lox cream cheese.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

In places where the average customer’s baseline bagel is one from Dunkin’ or Panera Bread, committing to the time and effort needed for quality bagels isn’t just a business decision, it’s also a personal one.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

For many bagel purists, the future should look like the past.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

I’m spreading cream cheese on a bagel now.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini