bench

noun

/bentʃ/

Definition

B2 [C] a long, usually hard seat for two or more people, often found in public places, or a long table for working on: a park bench (= a seat in a public garden) a work bench (= a table for working at)Chairs and seatsTables and desks the bench › a seat or area of seats where players sit during a game when they are not playing: He was injured, and spent the last few weeks of the season on the bench.Surfaces on which sports take place › the judge or magistrate in a law court, or the place where he or she sits: Kindly address your remarks to the bench, Mr Smith.Law courtsJudges and juries serve/sit/be on the bench › to work as a judge or magistrateJudges and juries take the bench US › to become a judge or magistrateJudges and juries › If a judge takes the bench, he or she begins a formal meeting of a law court.Judges and juries the benches › in the UK parliament building, the seats used by the members: There was jeering from the Labour benches.Government administration and organisation

(Definition of bench noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)