US /bɛnt͡ʃ/
noun verb Freq #4729

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    A long seat for two or more people, often found in parks.

    They sat on a park bench and fed the ducks.

  2. 2
    noun

    A long, heavy table for doing work; a workbench.

    She placed the tools on the bench and started working.

  3. 3
    noun

    The place where players who are not playing sit during a game.

    He spent the first three games on the bench.

  4. 4
    verb

    To take a player out of a game.

    The coach benched him after the mistake.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
2 noun · a long, heavy table for... workbench
Word family
Forms bencherbenches
Derived forms back-benchbackbenchbantlingbench-holebench-pressbench-warmerbenchballbencherbenchfellowbenchfulbenchlandbenchless

Etymology

From Middle English bench, benk, bynk, from Old English benċ (“bench”), from Proto-West Germanic *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-. Cognate with Scots benk, bink (“bench”), West Frisian bank (“bench”), Dutch bank (“bench”), German Bank (“bench”), Danish bænk (“bench”), Swedish bänk (“bench”), Icelandic bekkur (“bench”). Doublet of banc, banco, and bank.

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Topics

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