bench

bench
—benchless, adj.
/bench/, n.
1. a long seat for several persons: a bench in the park.
2. a seat occupied by an official, esp. a judge.
3. such a seat as a symbol of the office and dignity of an individual judge or the judiciary.
4. the office or dignity of various other officials, or the officials themselves.
5. Sports.
a. the seat on which the players of a team sit during a game while not playing.
b. thequality and number of the players of a team who are usually used as substitutes: A weak bench hurt their chances for the championship.
6. Informal. See bench press.
7. Also called workbench. the strong worktable of a carpenter or other mechanic.
8. a platform on which animals are placed for exhibition, esp. at a dog show.
9. a contest or exhibition of dogs; dog show.
10. Phys. Geog. a shelflike area of rock with steep slopes above and below.
11. Mining. a step or working elevation in a mine.
12. berm (def. 2).
13. on the bench,
a. serving as a judge in a court of law; presiding.
b. Sports. (of a player) not participating in play, either for part or all of a game.
v.t.
14. to furnish with benches.
15. to seat on a bench or on the bench: an election that benched him in the district court.
16. to place (a show dog or other animal) in exhibition.
17. to cut away the working faces of (a mine or quarry) in benches.
18. Sports. to remove from a game or keep from participating in a game: to be benched because of poor hitting.
[bef. 1000; ME, OE benc; c. OFris benk, OS, D, OHG bank, ON bekkr < Gmc *bank-i-; see BANK1]

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 long seat that may be freestanding, fixed to the wall, or placed against the wall. Paneled benches were used by the Romans, and they were the most common form of seating in medieval halls at a time when a chair was a rare luxury reserved for those of high status. Benches were not only used as seats but were normally wide enough to be used for sleeping on or eating from; as the Frankish ecclesiastic and historian Gregory of Tours recorded, when King Chilperic I was sitting with Bishop Bertrand, he had before him a bench bearing food.

      Benches retained their popularity as fitted seats in window alcoves, but in the 16th century they lost favour as freestanding pieces of furniture when chairs became more widely used. Upholstered versions were also made. Some of the most spectacular benches were made in the Spanish colonies in South America in the 17th century, notably in Cuzco, Peru, where benches bore enormous carved crestings and balustraded backs that were painted and gilded.

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Universalium. 2010.

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