I. ˈbench noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English benc; akin to Old High German bank bench, Old Norse bekkr
1.
a. : a long usually wooden seat often for two or more persons and sometimes with a back
a park bench
b. : a thwart or seat in a boat
c.
(1) : a seat on which members of an athletic team sit while awaiting a turn or an opportunity to play
(2) : the reserve players of a team
2.
a. : the seat where a judge sits in court : the seat of justice
b. : the office or dignity of a judge
a recent appointment to the bench
c. : the place where justice is administered : court
d. : the persons who sit as judges — see court of king's bench
3.
a. : a seat or seat and table or desk for an official
b. : the office or dignity of such an official
he aspires to the civic bench
c. : the officials occupying such a bench
the bishops' bench in the House of Lords
4.
a. : a long worktable having a level top
a carpenter's bench
b. : a usually metal table forming part of a machine
c. : any of various machines (as for drawing wires or tubes) that are developments of the simple workbench
5. : terrace , shelf : as
a. : an area of level or gently sloping land with steep slopes above and below formed by differential erosion of rocks of varying resistance or by a change of base-level erosion
b. : a former wave-cut shore of a sea or lake or floodplain of a river
c. : a shelf formed in working an open excavation on more than one level
d. : a shelf or ledge made in a mine tunnel or working when an upper section is cut back
e.
(1) : a stratum of coal forming part of a seam
(2) : one of two or more portions of a coal seam often separated (as by slate)
6.
a.
(1) : a platform with wooden sides and back and often a heavy screen top and front on which a dog is placed at a dog show
(2) : a public exhibition of dogs
b. : a raised platform with sides that is used for supporting potted plants or for holding soil in which plants are grown (as in a greenhouse or conservatory)
7.
a. : a group of retorts in an oven or furnace for generating coal gas
b. : the complete oven or furnace containing a set or group of retorts
•
- on the bench
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English benchen, from bench, n.
transitive verb
1. : to furnish with benches
2.
a. : to seat on a bench (as of justice or honor)
b. : to remove (a player) from a game or keep (a player) on the bench
the infielder was benched for poor fielding
c. : to set out (plants) in greenhouse benches or beds
3.
a. : to exhibit (dogs or other show animals) in a bench show
b. : to arrange the bench for (a dog or other animal show)
4. : to cut ledges or steps in (as an embankment)
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to sit on a seat of justice
2. : to form a bench by natural processes
the soil showed a tendency to bench off levelly between the tree rows — Russell Lord