bench

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A long seat, often without a back, for two or more persons.
2. n. Nautical A thwart in a boat.
3. n. Law The seat for judges in a courtroom.
4. n. Law The office or position of a judge.
5. n. Law The judge or judges composing a court.
6. n. A seat occupied by a person in an official capacity.
7. n. The office of such a person.
8. n. A strong worktable, such as one used in carpentry or in a laboratory.
9. n. A platform on which animals, especially dogs, are exhibited.
10. n. Sports The place where the players on a team sit when not participating in a game.
11. n. Sports The reserve players on a team.
12. n. A level, narrow stretch of land interrupting a declivity.
13. n. A level elevation of land along a shore or coast, especially one marking a former shoreline.
14. v. To furnish with benches.
15. v. To seat on a bench.
16. v. To show (dogs) in a bench show.
17. v. Sports To keep out of or remove from a game: benched the goalie for fighting.
18. v. Sports To bench-press.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A long seat, usually of board or plank, or of stone, differing from a stool in its greater length.
2. n. The seat where judges sit in court; the seat of justice.
3. n. Hence The body of persons who sit as judges; the court: as, the case is to go before the full bench.
4. n. A strong table on which carpenters or other mechanics do their work; a work-bench. In this sense bench forms an element in a number of compound words denoting tools used on a bench, such as bench-drill, bench-hammer, bench-plane.
5. n. The floor or ledge which supports muffles and retorts.
6. n. A platform or a series of elevated stalls or boxes on which animals are placed for exhibition, as at a dog-show.
7. n. In engineering, a ledge left on the edge of a cutting in earthwork to strengthen it.
8. n. In geology and mining:
9. n. A natural terrace, marking the outcrop of a harder seam or stratum, and thus indicating a change in the character of the rock.
10. n. In coal-mining, a division of a coal-seam separated from the remainder of the bed by a parting of shale or any other kind of rock or mineral.
11. n. A small area of nearly level or gently sloping land, rising above the adjacent low region, and forming a part of a terrace or wash, disunited from the remainder by erosion. Sometimes, though rarely, used as synonymous with terrace.
12. n. The driver's seat on a coach.
13. To furnish with benches.
14. To bank up.
15. To seat on a bench; place on a seat of honor.
16. To place on a show-bench for exhibition, as a dog.
17. In mining: To undercut, kirve, or hole (the coal).
18. To wedge up the bottoms below the holing when this is done in the middle of the seam.
19. To sit on a seat of justice.
20. n. A horizontal subdivision of a bed of coal or other mineral.
21. n. A glass tray in which microscopical slides can be placed, in a vertical position, for staining or other purposes.

Wiktionary

1. n. A long seat, for example, in the park.
2. n. law The people who decide on the verdict; the judiciary.
3. n. law, figuratively The place where the judges sit.
4. n. sports The place where players (substitutes) and coaches sit when not playing.
5. n. sports, figuratively The number of players on a team able to participate, expressed in terms of length.
6. n. A place where assembly or hand work is performed; a workbench.
7. n. weightlifting A horizontal padded surface, usually with a weight rack, used for support during exercise.
8. n. A flat ledge in the slope of an earthwork, work of masonry, or similar.
9. n. geology A thin strip of relatively flat land bounded by steeper slopes above and below.
10. n. New Zealand A kitchen surface on which to prepare food, a counter.
11. v. transitive, sports To remove a player from play.
12. v. transitive, figuratively To remove someone from a position of responsibility temporarily.
13. v. slang To push the victim back on the person behind them who is on their hands and knees and end up falling over.
14. v. transitive and intransitive, colloquial To lift by bench pressing
15. n. weightlifting The weight one is able to bench press, especially the maximum weight capable of being pressed.
16. v. alternative spelling of bentsh.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A long seat, differing from a stool in its greater length.
2. n. A long table at which mechanics and other work.
3. n. The seat where judges sit in court.
4. n. The persons who sit as judges; the court. See King's Bench.
5. n. A collection or group of dogs exhibited to the public; -- so named because the animals are usually placed on benches or raised platforms.
6. n. A conformation like a bench; a long stretch of flat ground, or a kind of natural terrace, near a lake or river.
7. v. To furnish with benches.
8. v. To place on a bench or seat of honor.
9. v. rare To sit on a seat of justice.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the reserve players on a team
2. n. a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity (with steep slopes above and below)
3. n. a long seat for more than one person
4. n. (law) the seat for judges in a courtroom
5. v. exhibit on a bench
6. n. the magistrate or judge or judges sitting in court in judicial capacity to compose the court collectively
7. v. take out of a game; of players
8. n. a strong worktable for a carpenter or mechanic
9. n. persons who administer justice