bagel

UK: /ˈbeɪɡ^əl/ US: /ˈbeɪgəl/ ,(bā′gəl)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ba•gel /ˈbeɪgəl/   n. [countable]

1. Food a chewy, doughnut-shaped roll of dough that is simmered in water and baked.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ba•gel  (bā′gəl), n. 

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

• Gmc *baug- ring (see bee²) + *-il- noun, nominal suffix
• Yiddish beygl; compare dialect, dialectal German Beugel
• 1930–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bagel, beigel / ˈbeɪɡ^əl/ noun

1. a hard ring-shaped bread roll, characteristic of Jewish baking
2. a set in which the loser does not win a single game

verb ( -els, -elling, -elled) ( -els, -eling, -eled)

(transitive) to win a set against (an opponent) without losing a single game

Etymology: 20th Century: from Yiddish beygel, ultimately from Old High German boug ring; senses 2 and 3 referring to the resemblance of the figure ‘0’ to the hole in a bagel