bench

[bench] /bɛntʃ/
noun
1.
a long seat for several persons:
a bench in the park.
2.
a seat occupied by an official, especially a judge.
3.
such a seat as a symbol of the office and dignity of an individual judge or the judiciary.
4.
the office or dignity of various other officials, or the officials themselves.
5.
Sports.
  1. the seat on which the players of a team sit during a game while not playing.
  2. thequality and number of the players of a team who are usually used as substitutes:
    A weak bench hurt their chances for the championship.
6.
Informal. bench press.
7.
Also called workbench. the strong worktable of a carpenter or other mechanic.
8.
a platform on which animals are placed for exhibition, especially at a dog show.
9.
a contest or exhibition of dogs; dog show.
10.
Physical Geography. a shelflike area of rock with steep slopes above and below.
11.
Mining. a step or working elevation in a mine.
12.
berm (def 2).
verb (used with object)
13.
to furnish with benches.
14.
to seat on a bench or on the bench:
an election that benched him in the district court.
15.
to place (a show dog or other animal) in exhibition.
16.
to cut away the working faces of (a mine or quarry) in benches.
17.
Sports. to remove from a game or keep from participating in a game:
to be benched because of poor hitting.
Idioms
18.
on the bench,
  1. serving as a judge in a court of law; presiding.
  2. Sports. (of a player) not participating in play, either for part or all of a game.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English, Old English benc; cognate with Old Frisian benk, Old Saxon, Dutch, Old High German bank, Old Norse bekkr < Germanic *bank-i-; see bank1
Related forms
benchless, adjective
unbench, verb (used with object)

Bench

[bench] /bɛntʃ/
noun
1.
Johnny, born 1947, U.S. baseball player.
Examples from the web for bench
  • He went from sitting on the bench to become the difference maker on the cougars.
  • The rear choir stall bench and shuttered windows introduce the monastic theme.
British Dictionary definitions for bench

bench

/bɛntʃ/
noun
1.
a long seat for more than one person, usually lacking a back or arms
2.
a plain stout worktable
3.
(sometimes capital) the bench
  1. a judge or magistrate sitting in court in a judicial capacity
  2. judges or magistrates collectively
4.
(sport) the seat on which reserve players and officials sit during a game
5.
(geology) a flat narrow platform of land, esp one marking a former shoreline
6.
a ledge in a mine or quarry from which work is carried out
7.
(in a gymnasium) a low table, which may be inclined, used for various exercises
8.
a platform on which dogs or other domestic animals are exhibited at shows
9.
(NZ) a hollow on a hillside formed by sheep
verb (transitive)
10.
to provide with benches
11.
to exhibit (a dog, etc) at a show
12.
(NZ) to form (a track) up a hill by excavating a flattened area
13.
(US & Canadian, sport) to take or keep (a player) out of a game, often for disciplinary reasons
Word Origin
Old English benc; related to Old Norse bekkr, Old High German bank, Danish, Swedish bänk; see bank³
Word Origin and History for bench
n.

Old English benc "long seat," from Proto-Germanic *bankiz "bank of earth," perhaps here "man-made earthwork," later "bench, table" (cf. Old Frisian bank "bench," Old Norse bekkr, Danish bænk, Middle Dutch banc, Old High German banch), from PIE root *bheg- "to break." Used for "office of a judge" since late 13c. Sporting sense "reserve of players" (in baseball, North American football, etc.) is by 1909, from literal sense of place where players sit when not in action (by 1889).

v.

"to take out of the game," 1902, from bench (n.) in the sporting sense. Related: Benched; benching. Old English also had a verb form, but it meant "to make benches."

Slang definitions & phrases for bench

bench

verb
  1. To take someone out of active play in a sporting event: coach benched him after one foul
  2. To remove someone from an activity: Don't bench the staff for that decision

bench in the Bible

deck of a Tyrian ship, described by Ezekiel (27:6) as overlaid with box-wood.

Idioms and Phrases with bench

bench

see: