noun
bagel
BAY-guhl
noun
1
A dense, ring-shaped bread roll that's boiled briefly before being baked.
"He toasted a bagel and spread cream cheese on it for breakfast."
2
In tennis, a set won or lost by a score of 6–0, named for the shape of the "0" resembling a bagel.
"She gave her opponent a bagel in the first set."
How to Use Bagel
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA chewy, ring-shaped bread, or in tennis slang, a set won without the loser scoring a single game.
Common pairings
bagel and cream cheese
toasted bagel
Word Forms
bageled past tense, bagelled past tense, bagels plural, bagels singular
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Etymology
Borrowed from Yiddish beygl, ultimately traced back to a Middle High German word meaning "ring" or "bracelet," which describes the bread's distinctive round shape.