noun
1 long seat
ADJECTIVE
▪ empty
▪ long
▪ narrow
▪ hard
▪ cushioned , padded
▪ metal , stone , wood , wooden
▪ garden , park
▪ picnic
▪ replacements' , subs' ( informal ), substitutes' (all BrE , sports )
▪
They have several top players on the subs' ~.
▪ piano ( AmE )
VERB + BENCH
▪ sit (down) on
BENCH + NOUN
▪ seat
PREPOSITION
▪ on a/the ~
▪
She often sleeps on park ~es.
▪
He's sick of spending every game on the ~ ( = not playing ).
2 ( BrE ) in Parliament
ADJECTIVE
▪ government , Opposition
▪ Conservative , Labour , etc.
▪ back , front (Government ministers and the most important members of the Opposition sit on the front benches . Back-bench MPs have no official position besides that of MP.)
VERB + BENCH
▪ be on , sit on
PREPOSITION
▪ from the … ~s
▪
There were cheers from the Labour ~es.
▪ on the … ~s
▪
Some MPs on the government back ~es are starting to question the government's handling of the war.
3 long narrow table that people work at
ADJECTIVE
▪ work (usually workbench )
▪ carpenter's , lab ( informal ), laboratory
▪ kitchen ( esp. AmE )
PREPOSITION
▪ at a/the ~
▪
He was working at his ~.