ben 
Sometimes from thu ben another apartment, called the 
far-ben, is reached. The terms Init and '/. u art- now fre- 
quently applied to kitchen ami parlor (or bedroom) of a 
two-roomed dwelling, even when they are on opposite sides 
of a little hall or passage. Hence, to line but and in n u ith 
any one is to oeenpy un apartment orseriesof apartments 
on the opposite side of thu hall or passage from that occu- 
pied l>\ him. 
ben'-'t, beneH, " [Ml 1 '., also fc<w, < AS. ben, a 
prayer, = led. him, a prayer, parallel with //, 
>E. boon 1 , q. \.] A prayer: :i petition. 
ben :t t- Obsolete or dialectal form of been*. 
ben* (ben), ii. [< (lad. and Ir. bciini, peak, sum- 
mit, mi >u ni :iiii. = \V. JM-II, to]), summit, head.] 
A mountain-peak: a word occurring chiefly in 
the names of many of the highest summits of the 
mountain-ranges which traverse Scotland north 
of the friths of Clyde and Forth : as, Ben Nevis, 
Ben Mac-Dhui. Hen Lawers, etc. 
Sweet was the red-blooming heather 
And the river that Mowed from the I!,'n. 
Jacvliili- .Snif//. 
ben 1 "' (ben), n. [Early mod. K. also ham, < Ar. 
bun, the tree which produces the ben-iiut: see 
ben-nut.'] The beu-nut, properly the ben-nut 
tree. 
ben", >i. See behen. 
benamet, r. t. ; pret. and pp. benamed, bencmpt, 
ppr. bciiiniting. [< ME. briHimnen, < AS. benem- 
nan (= G. benennen = Sw. bendmna), < be-l + 
nemnan, name: see fee- 1 and name, p.] 1. To 
name; denominate. 
He that is so oft bitneinpt. Spenser, Shep. C'al., July. 
And therefore he a courtier was benamed. Sir P. Sidney. 
2. To promise ; give. 
Much greater gyfts for guerdon thou shalt gayne, 
Than Kidde or Cosset, which I thee bynempt. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., November. 
bench, (bench), w. [E. dial, and So. also beak, 
binlc, < ME. bench, benk, bynk, < AS. benc (orig. 
*6fc) = OS. bunk, benki = D. bank = OHG. 
banch, MHG. G. bank = Icel. bekkr = Sw. bank 
= Dan. batnk, a bench: gee bank 1 , bank'!.'] 1. 
A long seat, usually of board or plank, or of 
stone, differing from a stool in its greater 
length. 
He took his place once more on the bench at the inn door. 
Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 64. 
2. The seat where judges sit in court; the seat 
of justice. 
To pluck down justice from your awful If itch. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., v. 2. 
Hence 3. The body of persons who sit as 
judges ; the court : as, the case is to go before 
the full bench. 4. A strong table on which 
carpenters or other mechanics do their work ; 
a work-bench. In this sense batch forms an element 
in a number of compound words denoting tools used on 
a hench, such as bi'ttch-driU, bench-hammer, bench-plane. 
6. The floor or ledge which supports muffles 
and retorts. 6. A platform or a series of ele- 
vated stalls or boxes on which animals are 
placed for exhibition, as at a dog-show. 
Excellence on the bench and excellence in the field may 
he two utterly diverse things. 
Forest and Stream, XXII. 361. 
7. In cngin . , a ledge left on the edge of a cutting 
in earthwork to strengthen it. 8. In geol. and 
mining: (a) A natural terrace, marking the 
outcrop of a harder seam or stratum, and thus 
indicating a change in the character of the rock. 
On this rest argillaceous, splendent, siliceous talc schists, 
sometimes containing chiastolite ; and on these, three 
benches of conglomerates, tutfs, and argillaceous schists 
and lirae-stones, which he refers to the Potsdam sand- 
stones. Science, III. 729. 
(6) 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. [Pennsylvania.] 9. 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 rare- 
ly, used as synonymous with terrace. 
After a few smooth, grassy benches and rounded hills, 
here come precipitous ranges of real mountains, scarcely 
less imposing than those of the central mass. 
Science, VII. 243. 
The wide level benches that lay between the foot-hills 
and the prairies . . . were neglected. 
Harper's May., LXIX. 502. 
10. The driver's seat on a coach Bench of 
bishops, or episcopal bench, a collective designation of 
the bishops who have seats in the English Houseof Lords. 
Court of King's or Queen's Bench. Seecowrf. Edging - 
and-divlding bench, a machine for cutting wooden blocks 
into voiissoir shapes, such as are used in makinga certain 
kind of car-wheels. It consists of a circular saw with a 
traveling bed which is moved by a screw, and by means of 
a system of levei-s actuated by projecting and adjustable 
pins throws the belt automatically from one to another of 
three pulleys, causing the action to be direct or reversed, 
521 
or to skip, as the work requires.- -Free bench. f^cc free- 
bench, -Front bench, in Hritish parliamentary IIWIJM-. the 
leaders, of a party : so railed because they occupy the trout 
benches on their respective sides of the House of Com- 
moot. 
It is an old and honourable praetiee that in auv < h:m;:< > 
allei-tin;-' lth' llu-. il^-lf. an understatiiiin;; should be 
conn- to brt\U'ell till' I v\ [i':ttit /,./,</,, -,v 
Fortnightly Rev., XXXIX. am. 
Ministerial benches, opposition benches, in the iirit- 
isli Parliament, the benches ocrll|>ird n -|.. rthi'l.V by the 
supporters and the op]M>neiits nt tb,- administration. 
bench (bench), v. [< bench, .] I. trans. 1. 
To furnish with benches. 2f. To bank up. 
'Twas benched with turf. /'/ '/'< n. 
3f. To seat on a bench; place on a seat of 
honor. 
Mis riip bearer, whom I from meaner form 
Have /" in-li (/, and rear d to worship. 
*/,*., W. T., i. 2. 
4. To place on a show-bench for exhibition, as 
a dog. 5. In mining : (a) To undercut, kirve, 
or hole (the coal). [Eng.] (b) To wedge up 
the bottoms below the holing when this is done 
in the middle of the seam. [Leicestershire, 
Eng.] 
II. in trans. To sit on a seat of justice. 
[Rare.] 
Thou robed man of justice, take thy place; 
And thou, his yoke-fellow of eejiiity, 
Bench by his side. Shak., Lear, ill. 6. 
bench-clamp (bench'klamp), n. A clamp at- 
tached to a work-bench for holding firm an 
article on which the mechanic is working. 
bench-drill (bench'dril), ti. A hand- or ma- 
chine-drill so made that it can be attached to 
a bench. 
bencher (ben'cher), n. [< bench, n., + -er 1 .] 1. 
In England, one of the senior members of an 
inn of court, who have the government of the 
society. Benchers have been readers, and, being ad- 
mitted to plead within the bar, are called inner barristers. 
These were followed by a great crowd of superannuated 
benehers of the inns of court, senior fellows of colleges, 
and defunct statesmen. 
Aildixon, Trial of the Dead in Reason. 
2. One who occupies an official bench ; a judge : 
sometimes, specifically, a municipal or local 
magistrate ; an alderman or justice. [Rare.] 
You are well understood to be a perfecter giber for the 
table, than a necessary bencher in the Capitol. 
SAa*.,Cor.,ii. 1. 
This corporation [New Windsor] consists of a mayor, 
two bailiffs, and twenty-eight other persons, . . . thirteen 
of which are called fellows, and ten of them alderuieu or 
chief lir uchtn. Ashmole, Berkshire, iii. 58. 
Each town [of colonial Virginia] was to he a free bor- 
ough with markets and an annual fair. For their gov- 
ernment, whenever the number of inhabitants should 
have become thirty families, they were, upon summons 
from the Governor, to elect eight benchers of the guild 
hall, who should annually elect one of their number di- 
rector. Johns Hopkins Hist. Studies, 3d ser., p. 106. 
3f. One who frequents the benches of a tav- 
ern ; an idler. 
benchership (ben'cher-ship), n. [< bencher + 
-ship.'] The office or condition of a bencher. 
They [two benchers of the Inner Temple] were coevals, 
and had nothing but that and their benchership in com- 
mon. Lamb, Old Benchers. 
bench-forge (bench'forj), n. A small hearth 
and blower adapted for use on a workman's 
bench. 
bench-hammer (bench'ham'er), n. A finish- 
ers' or blacksmiths' hammer. 
bench-hook (beuch'huk), . A hook with pro- 
jecting teeth used on a carpenter's bench to 
keep the work from moving sidewise. it is fitted 
in a mortise, so that it can be placed at any required height. 
It is also made in various clasp-shapes, and called a bench- 
clamp. 
ig (ben'ching), n. [<bench + -ing 1 .'] 1. 
Benches; seats generally. 2. In coal-mining, 
one of the many names given to the process of 
getting the coal after it has been holed. See 
hole 1 and kirve. 
bench-lathe (bench'lafH), . A small lathe 
which can be mounted on a post placed in a 
socket in a bench. 
bench-level (bench'lev'el), . A level used in 
setting up a machine, to bring its bed into an 
exactly horizontal position. 
bench-mark (bench'mark), n. [< bench + 
iiKirk 1 : in reference to the angle-iron which in 
taking a reading is inserted in the horizontal 
cut so as to form a support or bench for the 
leveling-staff.] In sun., a mark cut in stoiie 
or some durable material as a starting-point in 
a line of levels for the determination of alti- 
tudes over any region, or one of a number of 
similar marks made at suitable distances as 
the survey advances. 
Bench-table. Church of Notre Dame, Cha- 
lons-bur-Marne, prance. 
A vise which may 
bend 
They (places of the stars) are the ref- r-'in'c points and 
kMofcmanki of tin- mm. i v. 202. 
bench-master (ben eh 'mas ter), . in England, 
a governor of an inn of court; an alderman. 
Iiiifi. Hii'1. 
bench-plane(bench'plan). n. Any I'.innof jiliini- 
used un Hut siirfnci's. :is the block-plane, tin- 
compiiss-pliin' . the jack-plane, tin- jointer, the 
long plane, the nnoothing-pll&e, and the try- 
ing-plane. 
bench-reel (bench'rel), n. A spinning-wheel 
on the pirn or bobbin of which :i suilmaker 
winds the yarn. K. II. h'nii/ht. 
bench-Screw (bencli'skro), . The serew which 
si-euro tin- vise-jaw of a carpenter's bench. 
bench-shears (beneh'sherz), H. ill. Large hand- 
slienrs for ciittini; metal. 
bench-show ( bench 'sho), . An exhibition of 
animals, as of dogs or cats, which are arranged 
on benches for a comparison of their physical 
merits according to ;i fixed scale of points: in 
contradistinction to ;i Jii-lil-xlnnr. or ji< lil-lrinl, 
where awards are made forperfornmix-i . 
/>'/"/( A/ci(tw and field trials in Amerira . . . have In - 
conn- pel mam-nt institutions. i',:'*t mi'l SI ,-^>i m. XXI. :;. 
bench-Stop (bench'stop), . Abeneli-liookmade 
to be fastened down on a piece of work, some- 
times by means of a screw. 
bench-Strip (bench'strip), n. A strip of wood 
or metal capable of being fixed on a work- 
bench at any 
required dis- 
tance from the 
edge, to assist 
in steadying 
the article or 
material being 
worked on. 
bench-table 
(bench'ta"bl), 
n. A low stone 
seat carried 
around the in- 
terior walls of 
many medie- 
val churches. 
bench-vise (bench'vis), . 
be attached to a bench. 
bench-warrant (bench'wor'ant), . In lair, 
a warrant issued by a judge or court, or by order 
of a judge or court, for the apprehension of an 
offender : so called in opposition to a justice's 
warrant, issued by an ordinary justice of the 
peace or police magistrate. Mozteyand Whitclet/. 
bend 1 (bend), u. [< ME. bend, < AS. bend, 
rarely band, fern, and masc. (= OS. bendi = 
OFries. bende = OD. bende = Goth, bandi), a 
band, bond, fetter ; cognate with *band, E. 
bandi, <. bindan (pret. band), bind : see bandl. 
Bend^- is practically identical with bandl, the 
two being partly merged in use with the closely 
related pair band?, bend 2 . In senses 4-11 bend 
is modern, from the corresponding verb: see 
bend 1 , v.~\ If. A band; a bond; a fetter; in 
plural, bands; bonds; confinement. 2f. A 
band or clamp of metal or other material used 
to strengthen or hold together a box or frame. 
In all that rowme was nothing to be seeue 
But huge great yron chests, and coffers strong, 
All bard with double bends. 
Spenser, t. Q., II. vii. 30. 
3. Naut. : (a) That part of a rope which is 
fastened to another or to an anchor. (6) A 
knot by which a rope is fastened to another 
rope or to something else. The different sorts 
are distinguished as fisherman's bend, carrick- 
bend, etc. See cut under carrick-bend. (c) One 
of the small ropes used to confine the clinch of 
a cable, (d) pi. The thick planks in a ship's 
side below the waterways or the gun-deck port- 
sills. More properly called wales. They are reck- 
oned from the water asjirst, second, or third bend. They 
have the beams, knees, and foot-hooks bolted to them, 
and are the chief strength of the ship's sides. 
4. [See etym.] The action of bending, or state 
of being bent or curved ; incurvation ; flexure : 
as, to give a bend to anything ; to have a bend 
of the back. 5. An inclination of the body; a 
bow. 6f. An inclination of the eye; a turn 
or glance of the eye. 
And that same eye, whose bend doth awe the world, 
Did lose his lustre. Shak., J.C.,12. 
7f. Inclination of the mind ; disposition ; bent. 
Farewell, poor swain ; thou art not for my bend, 
I must have quicker souls. 
Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, 1. 3. 
8. A part that is bent ; a curve or flexure ; a 
crook; a turn in a road or river, etc.: as, the 
bend of a bow, or of a range of hills. 
