1
a
: a long seat for two or more persons
b
: a thwart in a boat
c(1)
: a seat on which the members of an athletic team await a turn or opportunity to play
(2)
: the reserve players on a team
broadly
: a reserve force
2
a
: the seat where a judge sits in court
b
: the place where justice is administered : court
c
: the office or dignity of a judge
sat on the bench for 20 years
d
: the persons who sit as judges
3
a
: the office or dignity of an official
b
: a seat for an official
c
: the officials occupying a bench
4
a
: a long worktable
b
: a table forming part of a machine
5
6
: a compartmented platform on which dogs or cats are kept at a show when not being judged
benched; benching; benches
1
: to furnish with benches
2
a
: to seat on a bench
b(1)
: to remove from or keep out of a game
broadly
: to remove from use or from a position
(2)
: to remove from the starting lineup
3
: to exhibit (dogs or cats) to the public on a bench
4
: to lift (a weight) in a bench press
bench 200 pounds
: to form a bench by natural processes
Synonyms
Examples of bench in a Sentence
Noun
The lawyer asked if he could approach the bench.
her recent appointment to the bench
Verb
The manager benched one of his most popular players.
Recent Examples on the Web
Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 8 Apr. 2024
Seated on a bench next to a lot of intellectual loners—Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, David Souter, Ginsburg herself—Breyer became a consensus seeker, if not always a consensus builder.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Bronze made an appearance next alongside his mom and sister in a second video as the trio snacked on snow cones while sitting on a bench outside.
—Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
McConnell continued to hurt the Heat, finishing with 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field in 27 minutes off the Pacers’ bench.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
With his team perhaps needing a bit of an emotional lift in a scoreless game against St. Louis, Kunin in the second period buried top-line winger Jake Neighbours against the boards right in front of the Blues’ bench.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2024
Solomon Byron was sitting on a park bench in Manhattan’s East Village.
—Jennifer Peltz, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2024
Santa Margarita cleared its bench in the fifth inning.
—Michael Huntley, Orange County Register, 5 Apr. 2024
Chances to score were at a premium in the opening exchanges, with tempers flaring between both teams as the game wore on – Georgia’s substitute goalkeeper Giorgi Loria was even shown a red card moments before half-time as both benches ran onto the pitch when a scuffle broke out.
—Ben Church, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024
Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
Rudy Gobert of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves got benched for a technical foul and a $100,000 fine for making a money-counting gesture at a ref after an adverse call, suggesting that the ref was on the take.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Kugel was benched two games by head coach Todd Golden in the SEC’s postseason tournament.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2024
At the end of last season, he was benched in favor of Mason Rudolph after recovering from injury.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024
Late last season, Wilson was benched amid a tough year with the team that many speculated would be his last.
—Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 5 Mar. 2024
Ridder, benched twice during the season, ranked sixth in the NFL with 19 turnovers – with none as ugly as a red zone interception in the final minutes at Carolina in Week 15 that set the Panthers (2-15) up for a game-winning field goal.
—USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2024
As punishment, Cristobal benched both players for the first quarter of the following week’s game against Boston College.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2024
In 2019, a Beckley, West Virginia, high school basketball coach reportedly benched a Black teen over the length of his dreadlocks.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024
Noun
After Monk, Lyles has been Sacramento’s most reliable bench player over the past two seasons.
—Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 8 Apr. 2024
Seated on a bench next to a lot of intellectual loners—Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, David Souter, Ginsburg herself—Breyer became a consensus seeker, if not always a consensus builder.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Bronze made an appearance next alongside his mom and sister in a second video as the trio snacked on snow cones while sitting on a bench outside.
—Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
McConnell continued to hurt the Heat, finishing with 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field in 27 minutes off the Pacers’ bench.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
With his team perhaps needing a bit of an emotional lift in a scoreless game against St. Louis, Kunin in the second period buried top-line winger Jake Neighbours against the boards right in front of the Blues’ bench.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2024
Solomon Byron was sitting on a park bench in Manhattan’s East Village.
—Jennifer Peltz, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2024
Santa Margarita cleared its bench in the fifth inning.
—Michael Huntley, Orange County Register, 5 Apr. 2024
Chances to score were at a premium in the opening exchanges, with tempers flaring between both teams as the game wore on – Georgia’s substitute goalkeeper Giorgi Loria was even shown a red card moments before half-time as both benches ran onto the pitch when a scuffle broke out.
—Ben Church, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024
Verb
Coach Tata Martino benched most of his regular starting lineup for the league game, which is sandwiched between the two legs of the Champions Cup quarterfinal series against Mexican club Monterrey.
—Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
Rudy Gobert of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves got benched for a technical foul and a $100,000 fine for making a money-counting gesture at a ref after an adverse call, suggesting that the ref was on the take.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Kugel was benched two games by head coach Todd Golden in the SEC’s postseason tournament.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2024
At the end of last season, he was benched in favor of Mason Rudolph after recovering from injury.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024
Late last season, Wilson was benched amid a tough year with the team that many speculated would be his last.
—Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 5 Mar. 2024
Ridder, benched twice during the season, ranked sixth in the NFL with 19 turnovers – with none as ugly as a red zone interception in the final minutes at Carolina in Week 15 that set the Panthers (2-15) up for a game-winning field goal.
—USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2024
As punishment, Cristobal benched both players for the first quarter of the following week’s game against Boston College.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2024
In 2019, a Beckley, West Virginia, high school basketball coach reportedly benched a Black teen over the length of his dreadlocks.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bench.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Bench.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bench. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bench
1 of 2 noun1
a
: a long seat for two or more persons
b
: a seat where the members of a team wait for a chance to play
2
a
: the seat where a judge sits in a court of law
b
: the position or rank of a judge
appointed to the bench
c
: a person or persons engaged in judging
3
a
: a long table for holding tools and work
b
bench
2 of 2 verb1
: to furnish with benches
2
: to seat on a bench
3
: to remove from or keep out of a game
Legal Definition
bench
noun1
: the place where a judge sits in court
asked counsel to approach the bench
compare bar sense 1a, dock, jury box, sidebar, stand
2
: the court or system of courts serving an area
the federal bench
3
a
: the office of a judge
appointed to the bench
b
: the body of persons who hold positions as judges
members of the bench and bar
compare bar sense 2a
c
: a judge or panel of judges hearing a case
unless the lawyer is responding to a question from the bench—R. H. Bork
R. H. BorkBiographical Definition
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