plural bagels
1
: a firm doughnut-shaped roll traditionally made by boiling and then baking
2
[from the resemblance of a bagel to the zero in the score of such a set] tennis, slang
: a set (see set entry 2 sense 15) in which one player or team wins every game
They were never in danger of losing, taking a 5-1 lead in the first set and registering a bagel in the second.—
Mike McGovern
Mike McGovernExamples of bagel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Before you toast bread slices, bagels, toaster pastries, or frozen waffles in your toaster, use your fingers to gently brush any loose crumbs from the surface.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2025
Many of the photographs have already disappeared, though a friend recently spotted one that had been posted in June, at Broadway and 108th Street, outside a closed bagel shop.
—Robert Sullivan, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
Simple pleasure in reading, the childhood delight of hunkering down with a good book and a warm bagel on my chest, sitting sideways on a sunken armchair with my head on its arm, no longer felt possible.
—Literary Hub, 12 Sep. 2025
Its spacious capacity accommodates all the way from family meals, roasts, and whole chickens, to bagels, all cooked to exact precision.
—Matt Emma, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bagel
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Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2025
Many of the photographs have already disappeared, though a friend recently spotted one that had been posted in June, at Broadway and 108th Street, outside a closed bagel shop.
—Robert Sullivan, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
Simple pleasure in reading, the childhood delight of hunkering down with a good book and a warm bagel on my chest, sitting sideways on a sunken armchair with my head on its arm, no longer felt possible.
—Literary Hub, 12 Sep. 2025
Its spacious capacity accommodates all the way from family meals, roasts, and whole chickens, to bagels, all cooked to exact precision.
—Matt Emma, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bagel
Cite this Entry
“Bagel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bagel. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bagel
noun
ba·gel
ˈbā-gəl 
: a firm doughnut-shaped roll
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