▪ I.bench,n.|bɛnʃ|Forms: 1 benc(e, 3–6 benche, (Orm. bennche), 4– bench. ForSc.and northern forms, see benk, bink.[Comm.Teut.:OE.bęnc=ON.*benkr (Sw.bänk,Da.bænk,Icel.bekkr),OS.,MHG.,MDu.banc,OHG.banch,mod.G.,Du.bank:—OTeut.*banki-z ‘bench’:cf.bankn.¹,n.², which are originally the same word as this, introduced into English at a later time through Romanic. In sense 2, bench translates L. bancum,AF.baunc, baunk.]1. a.A long seat, with or without a back, usually of wood, but also of stone, etc. ‘Distinguished from a stool by its greater length.’ J.a1000Beowulf 659Buᵹon þa to bence.c1200Ormin 14087He wollde sittenn þær, To drinnkenn þære on bennche.1393Langl.P. Pl. C. i. 200To cracchen ous[rats]..þouh we crepe vnder benches.c1440Promp. Parv. 30Benche, scamnum.1535CoverdaleEsther i. 6The benches were of golde and siluer.1611BibleEzek.xxvii. 6Thy benches of Yuorie.1712SteeleSpect.No.509 ⁋3The benches around are so filthy, that no one can sit down.1870F. WilsonCh.Lindisf. 69The nave is now seated with two rows of low-backed benches.b.A seat or thwart in a boat.1552Huloet,Benches in a barge, bote, or shyppe, juga,1791CowperOdyss. xv. 666Each obedient, to his bench repaired.1867SmythSailor's Word-bk.,Benches of Boats.c.Baseball, Assoc.Football, etc. A seat provided for the members of a team who are waiting to bat, play, etc. N.Amer.1912C. MathewsonPitching in Pinch 93The bench! To many fans..this is a long, hooded structure from which the next batter emerges and where the players sit while their club is at bat.1916Spalding's Baseball Guide 316All players and substitutes of the side at bat must be seated on their team's bench, except the batsman, base-runners and such as are legally assigned to coach base-runners.1967Boston Globe 5 Apr. 51/1For the first play-off game..Auerbach sat next to the Boston bench.1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Jan. 19/2The Boston team then became involved in a fight with some fans behind its bench.Ibid.13 Feb. 28/4Davis seldom went to his bench and his players appeared very tired in the final quarter.2. a.The seat where the judges sit in court; the judge's seat, or seat of justice; hence, the office or dignity of a judge, as in ‘to be raised to the bench.’c1275MapesBody & Soul 305Theiȝ alle the men nouȝ. under mone to demen weren sette on benche.1597Shakes.2Hen.IV, v. ii. 86To plucke down Iustice from your awefull Bench.1663ButlerHud. i. i. 23Great on the Bench, Great in the Saddle.1848MacaulayHist.Eng.I. 450These qualifications he carried..from the bar to the bench.Ibid.662On the bench sate three judges who had been with Jeffreys.b.Hence, the place where justice is administered:orig.applied to The (Court of) Common Bench, or (later) Common Pleas at Westminster,Anglo-Fr.le baunc, L. bancum; also The (Court of) King's or Queen's Bench, in which originally the sovereign presided, and which followed him in his movements. (These now form divisions of the High Court of Judicature.)1292Britton i. xxvii. §13Brefs pledables par devaunt nos Justices du baunc a Westmouster[before our Justices of the Bench at Westminster].Ibid.§14Si soint ajournez en baunc en presence des parties[they shall be adjourned into the Bench].Ibid.xxii. §18Des clers..del un baunc et del autre, et des clers del Escheker[the clerks..of the one Bench and the other].1297R.Glouc.570Biuore þe iustises atte benche.1330[See benk.]1362Langl.P. Pl. A.Prol.95To ben Clerkes of þe Kynges Benche.1474CaxtonChesse 79The courtes of the chaunserye, kynges bench, comyn place.1628CokeOn Litt. 71 b,Called the Kings Bench..because Kings in former times haue often personally set there.1768BlackstoneComm.III. 41The court of king's bench..is the supreme court of common law in the kingdom.1809TomlinsLawDict.s.v.King's Bench,During the reign of a Queen, it is called the Queen's Bench; and in Cromwell's time, it was stiled the Upper Bench.1835PennyCycl.III. 376/1Of the modern Court of Common Pleas..the judges..retain the technical title of ‘Justices of the Bench at Westminster’ to the present day.c.Any court of justice; a tribunal.1589Pasquil'sRet.B ij,The Courtes, Benches, Sessions, that are helde..in her Maiesties name.1660MiltonFree Commw.Wks.(1851) 451Monarchs..will have all the Benches of Judicature annex'd to the Throne.1863KingsleyWater-Bab. iv. 149The other two[days]he went to the bench and the board of guardians.d.The judges or magistrates collectively, or the judge or magistrate sitting in the seat of justice.1592GreeneArt Conny Catch. 10The bench, that neuer heard this name before, smiled.1677MarvellCorr.296 II. 355Sir, Your's and the Bench's most humble servant.a1716Bp.O. Blackall Wks.I. 318He had been asked some questions by the Bench.1753Pringle inScotsMag.XV. 42/1The bench consisted of six persons.1837DisraeliVenetia i. xvi,Now, prisoner, the bench is ready to hear your confession.3. a.A seat where a number of persons sit side by side in some official capacity; e.g. those in the British Houses of Parliament (originally simple wooden benches), that occupied by the Aldermen in a Council Chamber, etc.[1607Shakes.Timon iv. i. 5Slaues and Fooles Plucke the graue wrinkled Senate from the Bench.]1742ShenstoneSchoolmistr. xxviii,A little bench of heedless bishops And there a chancellor in embryo.1771SmollettHumph.Cl.(1815) 132Every individual that now filled the bench of bishops in the house of Lords.1812Examiner 4 May 280/1 (Parliament.Rep.),Loud cheering from the Treasury bench.1849H. MartineauHist.Eng.I. 15The cross-benches of neutrality in the House of Commons.1883MayLaw ofParl.16The spiritual and temporal lords..sit apart, on separate benches.1885Manch.Exam.24 July 6/1The comparative bareness of..the Whig benches on the left of the Speaker's chair.Hence,b.The dignity of occupying such a seat, as ‘to be raised to the episcopal bench,’i.e.the Bishop's bench in the House of Lords, ‘to aspire to the civic bench,’i.e.to be an Alderman, etc.c.Applied collectively to the persons who occupy, or have a right to occupy, such a seat.[1494Fabyan vii. 665By a consent of the benche[of aldermen], and of the comyn counsayll.]1600ChapmanIliad vi. 513Those loving vows to living Jove he used And all the other bench of gods.1801Bp.Lincoln in G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 359It has..excited no small alarm amongst some of our bench.1853BrightIndia,Sp.(1876) 2,I do not allude to the whole of the Treasury bench.1860ForsterGr.Remonstr.196The conflict with the Right Reverend Bench which ended in their committal to the Tower.4.An article of furniture similar in form to the long seat (sense 1):†a.a footstool;b.the rough strong table at which carpenters and other mechanics work;c.a banker's counter.c1386ChaucerPars. T. ⁋515Ne schal ye not swere..by the eorthe, for it is the benche of his feet.1727ChambersCycl.s.v.Foundery,Two workmen..have a table or bench in common.1755JohnsonDict.s.v.Bankrupt,When any became insolvent his..bench was broke.1881Mechanic i. viii §466A carpenter's bench may be either fixed or moveable.1885Hesba Stretton inGood Words XIV. 27/2,I have begun to work a little now at the bench.5.Hence, A collection of dogs as exhibited at a show on benches or platforms; hence attrib.1883Chamb.Jrnl.305The ‘bench’ and field properties of a greyhound.6.=bankn.¹ 1.c1450Why not Nun 114 in E.E.P. (1862) 141Vn-to a benche of camomylle My wofulle hede I dyd inclyne.1551Robinsontr.More's Utop. 30Vpon a bench couered with greene torves we satte.1652AshmoleTheat.Chem.215Benches coverid with new Turves grene.7. a.Any conformation of earth, stone, etc., which has a raised and flat surface: e.g. the coping of a wall (? obs.); a level ledge or set-back in the slope of masonry or earthwork; in U.S.a level tract between a river and neighbouring hills; a horizontal division or layer of a coal-seam, cut by itself. Hence bench-land.1730A. GordonMaffei's Amph. 399The Bench or Out-jutting, which is above the highest Ridge of the Building.1793SmeatonEdystone L. §111Its slope..being formed into a sort of steps, or benches.1811Deb.Congress (1853) 2116Towards the left flank this bench of high land widened considerably.1857W. ChandlessVisit Salt Lake ii. x. 326Bench-land fifty or hundred feet above the water-level.1862R. MayneBrit.Columbia 108These flats or benches..are found generally at the bends of the river.1873J. H. BeadleUndevel. West xxiv. 481We turn south-west, rising by successive ‘benches’ to a vast barren table land.1881RaymondMiningGloss.s.v.Bench,One bench or layer[of coal]being cut before the adjacent one.1920MulfordJ. Nelson xii. 129Right on them benches on th' east end of th' mountain.b.Geol.A natural terrace marking the outcrop of a harder seam or stratum.1884Science 13 June 729/1On this rest argillaceous, splendent, siliceous talc schists..; and on these, three benches of conglomerates, tuffs, and argillaceous schists and lime-stones.1898Westm.Gaz.20 May 9/1The same feature will doubtless exist as each bench is worked.c.The ledge or floor upon which the retorts stand in a retort-house; also, a set of retorts; also, the complete furnace or oven containing a set of retorts.1841CivilEng.&Archit.Jrnl.IV. 100/2The works are laid out in eight distinct sections of ten ‘benches’, or thirty retorts each.1920Conquest May 320/3In a large retort-house the settings are built in benches containing as many as 150 ‘through’ retorts.8.Law. See free-bench.9.Comb., chiefly attrib., as bench-cloth, bench-tied (sense 1), bench-business, bench-mute (sense 2), bench-cheek, bench-drill, bench-jaw or bench-vice (4 b). Also bench-babbler=bench-whistler; bench-clamp, a kind of vice with sliding side used to force together the parts, e.g. of a window-frame; bench-coal(see7); bench-end, the end of a seat in a church,freq.ornamented(seepoppy-head 2); bench-hammer, a finisher's or blacksmith's hammer; bench-holdfast, an iron hook, sliding in a socket, by which a plank may be gripped; †bench-hole, a privy; bench-hook, (a)=bench-holdfast; (b)(seequot.1888); bench-key, a particular key used by a watchmaker for winding watches upon which he is employed; bench-man, an operative who works at a bench, in various trades, as a joiner; also, a cabinet-maker who assists at bench-work, a labourer who works at a coke bench; bench-plane, a joiner's plane for working on a flat surface; bench-reel, a spinning reel on the pirn of which sailmakers wind their yarn; bench-room, sitting accommodation; bench-root Agric., ‘an abnormal root development due to the presence of tough seed coats; the roots are often twisted together or badly formed’ (Webster Addenda 1918); bench-screw(seequot.); bench-shears, shears used by copper- and zinc-workers; bench-show(see5); bench-stop, -strip, a strip of wood or metal fixed on a carpenter's bench to rest his work against; bench-table, a low stone seat on the inside of walls, or round the bases of pillars, in churches, cloisters, etc.; bench test, a test of a motor engine carried out in a workshop before fitting it to a motor body; also transf., preliminary testing of equipment, software, etc.; hence as v.trans., to run a series of tests on (an engine or other equipment),usu.before its public use; bench-testing vbl.n.; bench warmer U.S.slang, a person who sits idle on a bench, esp.a substitute in a sports team; also, any idle or ineffectual person; bench-warrant, one issued by a judge, as opposed to a justice's or magistrate's warrant; bench-winder=bench-key. See also bench-mark, -whistler.1549Bale inCheke's Hurt Sedit. (1641)Pref.,These chimney-Preachers, and *bench-Bablers.1850J. SmithRep.Sanit. Condition Hull 17Forming *bench-beds for the vessels.1647FullerGoodTh.Worse T. (1841) 103As if he made a session or *bench-business thereof.1881Mechanic §505Pins running through the bench leg and *bench cheek respectively.1552Huloet,*Benchclothe, or carpet cloth.1712Phil.Trans.XXVII. 541Coal, called *Bench-Coal.1898A. Jessopp in19thCent.Jan. 56We get a payment entered for the carving of the *bench-ends in a little church, 500 years ago.1960Times 12 Aug. 12/7This church..is full of interest, with exceptionally attractive poppyhead benchends.1555Fardle Facions 19Whiche dreamed not their knowledge in the *benchehole at home.1606Shakes.Ant.&Cl.iv. vii. 9Wee'l beat 'em into Bench-holes.a1656HallRem.Wks.(1660) 231The stoutest Atheist turnes pale, and is ready to creep into a bench-hole.1823P. NicholsonPract.Build.236The *bench-hook is to keep the wood steady.1888J. G. HornerDict.Mech.Engin.28Bench hook, a stop for sawing light work on the bench without damaging the bench itself. It is a block of wood about 12 in. long, furnished with a projecting stop at each end placed on opposite faces of a central web. One face of the web being laid on the bench, the lower stop is pressed against the bench edge, while the upper one takes the thrust of the wood which is being cut by the saw.1901DailyChron.7 May 10/6Boot trade.—Good *benchman wanted for repairs.1961Oxford Mail 5 Oct. 2/2Benchman required..footwear.1635R. BrathwaitArcad.Pr.ii. 13Thou..sitt'st *Bench-mute with thy decayed braines.1601HollandPliny II. 358Sufficient bed and *bench-room to rest and repose.1823P. NicholsonPract.Build.237The *bench-screw is used to fasten boards between the cheeks, in order to plane their edges.1874Forest & Stream 29 Oct. 182/1The first regular *bench show of dogs.1887Harper'sMag.May 934/1The American bench shows furnish an opportunity to most readers to see the best mastiffs in the country.1881Mechanic §464An ordinary carpenter's bench..with a bench vice and *bench stop.1849FreemanArchit.197A *bench table along the east wall.1909Westm.Gaz.6 Apr. 4/2Their..38 h.p. motors which recently underwent a 132 hours' continuous running *bench test at Coventry.1959Time 19 Jan. 54/3By 1922 he was bench-testing in secrecy the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.1971DailyTel.16 July 7 (Advt.),Thomas Mann benchtests the famous 6-cylinder XK engine.1984Which Micro? Dec. 98 (Advt.),Comparisons, bench tests, reviews and answers to all your questions.1973Inst.Environm.Sci.Proc.XIX. 24/2One of the ATS-F spacecraft heat pipes was discovered to have a thin wall, and upon *bench testing (protected), ruptured.1985Which Computer? Apr. 5/1When you think of computer ‘benchtesting’ you probably imagine tens of computer experts performing exhaustive hands-on studies under what amount to laboratory conditions.1820T. MitchellAristoph. I. 33My poor *bench-tied countrymen.1892N.Y.Sporting Times 9 Jan.,The days for ‘*bench warmers’ with salaries are also past.1978Washington Post 31 May b11/3Rivera..is a barely competent bench warmer. Her technical skills are evident.., but an ascetic stance makes her music..dull.1986Los Angeles Times 19 Oct. iii. 2/3He thought about leaving after the 1984 season, his third straight year as a bench-warmer.1696LuttrellBriefRel.IV. 108A *bench warrant was issued.1878J. H. BeadleWestern Wilds xxxii. 514Another called for the immediate arrest of Brigham on a bench warrant before he could fly the country.1883Wharton's Law-Lexicon (ed.7) 92/1Bench warrant, an attachment issued by order of a criminal court against an individual..a warrant signed by a judge, or two justices of the peace, to apprehend a prisoner charged with an offence.1959JowittDict.Eng.Law I. 225Bench warrant, a warrant issued by a court of record, sedente curia, for the arrest of a person against whom an indictment for treason, felony or misdemeanour has been found.., if such person does not appear to answer the indictment or articles.1884F. J. BrittenWatch & Clockm. 293*Bench Winder..[is]a key used for winding watches by a watch maker.Add:[4.]d.A worktop in a laboratory, etc.Earlier with precedingadj.orattrib.n., as work-benchs.v.workn.34 d, etc.[1866A. W. HoffmannChem.Labs. Univs. Bonn & Berlin 15At these working benches, all ordinary chemical work and all operations, not requiring special arrangements provided in other parts of the institution, are carried on.]1903T. H. RussellPlanning & Fitting-Up ofChem.& Physical Labs. 39The entire supply of gas and water to each bench should be controlled by stop-cocks at one end of the bench.1921A. E. MunbyLaboratories ii. 44Fume pipe for benches or lecture table.1970J. HuxleyMemories v. 82Between days of hard work at my bench I explored the exciting neighbourhood.1977‘E. Crispin’Glimpses of Moon ix. 169Sir John went to a bench and swept a lot of chemical glassware to one side with a large hand.▪ II.bench,v.|bɛnʃ|[f.prec.n.]1.trans.To furnish with benches.c1385ChaucerL.G.W. 98I-benchede newe with turvis.1615G. SandysTrav.130This entry[of the pyramid]was..benched on each side.1729SavageWanderer v. v,There, bench'd with turf, an oak our seat extends.1847TennysonPrincess ii. 348Stately theatres Bench'd crescent-wise.†2.To bank up, bank back. Obs.rare.1587FlemingCont. Holinshed III. 1547/1Yf there were anie issue or draining of water vnder the wals..they benched it, digging a trench at the foot of that part of the wall, and filling the same with earth.3. a.trans.To seat on a bench.b.refl.andintr.To seat oneself, or take a seat, upon a bench.1605Shakes.Lear iii. vi. 40Thou his yoke-fellow of equity, Bench by his side.1611―Wint. T. i. ii. 314His Cup-bearer, whom I from meaner forme Haue Bench'd, and rear'd to Worship.1624HeywoodCaptives iv. iii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV,The fryar..Hath lyke a surly Justyce bensht himself.1816W. Taylor inMonth.Mag.XLI. 331They..bench their weary joints.c.trans.To put (a dog) on a show-bench for exhibition; to exhibit at a dog-show.1891Times 28 Oct. 11/5Almost every breed of spaniel is benched.1898Standard 1 Dec. 2/6Possibly the soundest coloured Chow ever benched.1924Westm.Gaz.22 Oct.,Among those benched at the Toy Dog Show..will be black-and-tan miniature dogs.4.intr.to bench in: to recede in terraced levels.1737L. ClarkeHist.Bible vii. (1740) 409The whole ascent to it was, by the benching in, drawn in a sloping line from the bottom to the top.Ibid.,Calling it a Pyramid, because of its..benching in at every Tower.5.trans.N.Amer.In Baseball, Football, etc., to remove a player from a game or prevent him from taking part in it.Cf.benchn.1 c.1917C. MathewsonSec. Base Sloan xvi. 224Some of you stuffed sausages will be benched mighty quick if you don't wake up.1947Harper'sMag.June 560/2,I should have benched him long ago, he got only nineteen hits all season.1967Boston Herald 8 May 16/5Second baseman Woody Woodward, benched because he was in a hitting slump, returned to Atlanta's starting lineup Sunday.