- bench
- noun1 long seatADJECTIVE▪ empty▪ long▪ narrow▪ hard▪ cushioned, padded▪ metal, stone, wood, wooden▪ garden, park▪ picnic▪ replacements', subs' (informal), substitutes' (all BrE, sports)▪
They have several top players on the subs' bench.
▪ piano (AmE)VERB + BENCH▪ sit (down) onBENCH + NOUN▪ seatPREPOSITION▪ on a/the bench▪She often sleeps on park benches.
▪He's sick of spending every game on the bench (= not playing).
2 (BrE) in ParliamentADJECTIVE▪ government, Opposition▪ Conservative, Labour, etc.▪ back, front (Government ministers and the most important members of the Opposition sit on the front benches. Back-bench MPs have no official position besides that of MP.)VERB + BENCH▪ be on, sit onPREPOSITION▪ from the … benchs▪There were cheers from the Labour benches.
▪ on the … benchs▪Some MPs on the government back benches are starting to question the government's handling of the war.
3 long narrow table that people work atADJECTIVE▪ work (usually workbench)▪ carpenter's, lab (informal), laboratory▪ kitchen (esp. AmE)PREPOSITION▪ at a/the bench▪He was working at his bench.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.