Baikal

American  

[bahy-kahl] / baɪˈkɑl /

noun

1. Lake Baikal, a lake in the Russian Federation, in southern Siberia: the deepest lake in the world. 13,200 square miles (34,188 square kilometers); 5,714 feet (1,742 meters) deep.

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Baikal ¹ British  

/ baɪˈkɑːl, -ˈkæl /

noun

1. Russian name: Ozero Baykal.  a lake in Russia, in SE Siberia: the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia and the deepest in the world. Greatest depth: over 1500 m (5000 ft). Area: about 33 670 sq km (13 000 sq miles)

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Baikal ² British  

/ -ˈkæl, baɪˈkɑːl /

noun

1. a type of Russian-made handgun, designed to fire tear-gas cylinders but often modified to fire bullets

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Etymology

Origin of Baikal

First recorded in 1735–40; from Russian Baykál, from Buryat Bajgal (Nuur) “(Lake) Baikal”

Example Sentences

In late January, a Chinese tourist died after a car he was travelling overturned on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026

A new study appearing in Science Advances compares Pleistocene vegetation communities around Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, to the oldest archeological traces of Homo sapiens in the region.

From Science Daily • Sep. 22, 2023

One 74-year-old man, Yurii Senchuk, was among the first waiting at the river terminal on Sunday, alongside his dog, Baikal.

From Washington Post • Dec. 4, 2022

“I don’t want to hide, I want to live freely,” said Ivan, a young entrepreneur among the dozen gay or transgender people featured in Mr. Shainyan’s “Queerography” program from Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal.

From New York Times • May 5, 2022

Golomynka, gō-lō-ming′ka, n. a fish found only in Lake Baikal, resembling the gobies.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various