The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bench \Bench\, n.; pl. Benches. [OE. bench, benk, AS. benc;
   akin to Sw. b[aum]nk, Dan b[ae]nk, Icel. bekkr, OS., D., & G.
   bank. Cf. Bank, Beach.]
   1. A long seat, differing from a stool in its greater length.
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            Mossy benches supplied the place of chairs. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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   2. A long table at which mechanics and other work; as, a
      carpenter's bench.
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   3. The seat where judges sit in court.
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            To pluck down justice from your awful bench. --Shak.
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   4. The persons who sit as judges; the court; as, the opinion
      of the full bench. See King's Bench.
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   5. A collection or group of dogs exhibited to the public; --
      so named because the animals are usually placed on benches
      or raised platforms.
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   6. A conformation like a bench; a long stretch of flat
      ground, or a kind of natural terrace, near a lake or
      river.
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   Bench mark (Leveling), one of a number of marks along a
      line of survey, affixed to permanent objects, to show
      where leveling staffs were placed. See bench mark in the
      vocabulary.

   Bench of bishops, the whole body of English prelates
      assembled in council.

   Bench plane, any plane used by carpenters and joiners for
      working a flat surface, as jack planes, long planes.

   Bench show, an exhibition of dogs.

   Bench table (Arch.), a projecting course at the base of a
      building, or round a pillar, sufficient to form a seat.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bench \Bench\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Benched; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Benching.]
   1. To furnish with benches.
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            'T was benched with turf.             --Dryden.
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            Stately theaters benched crescentwise. --Tennyson.
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   2. To place on a bench or seat of honor.
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            Whom I . . . have benched and reared to worship.
                                                  --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bench \Bench\, v. i.
   To sit on a seat of justice. [R.] --Shak.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

bench
    n 1: a long seat for more than one person
    2: a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity (with steep
       slopes above and below) [syn: terrace, bench]
    3: persons who administer justice [syn: judiciary, bench]
    4: a strong worktable for a carpenter or mechanic [syn:
       workbench, work bench, bench]
    5: the magistrate or judge or judges sitting in court in
       judicial capacity to compose the court collectively
    6: the reserve players on a team; "our team has a strong bench"
    7: (law) the seat for judges in a courtroom
    v 1: take out of a game; of players
    2: exhibit on a bench; "bench the poodles at the dog show"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

97 Moby Thesaurus words for "bench":
   British Cabinet, Sanhedrin, US Cabinet, advisory body, agency,
   ambo, assembly, association, atelier, bar, barbershop,
   beauty parlor, beauty shop, board, body of advisers,
   borough council, brain trust, buffet, butcher shop, cabinet,
   camarilla, chair, chamber, city council, common council, company,
   concern, conference, congress, consultative assembly, corporation,
   council, council fire, council of ministers, council of state,
   council of war, counter, county council, court, curule chair, dais,
   deliberative assembly, desk, diet, directory, divan, escritoire,
   establishment, facility, firm, helm, house, installation,
   institution, judgment seat, junta, kitchen cabinet, lectern,
   legislature, loft, mercy seat, mesa, organization, parish council,
   parlor, plateau, privy council, saddle, seat, seat of justice,
   seat of power, seat of state, secretaire, secretary, shop, soviet,
   staff, stand, studio, sweatshop, syndicate, synod, table,
   table mountain, tableland, tribunal, woolsack, work site,
   work space, workbench, workhouse, working space, workplace,
   workroom, workshop, worktable, writing table



Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Bench
   deck of a Tyrian ship, described by Ezekiel (27:6) as overlaid
   with box-wood.


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BENCH. Latin Bancus, used for tribunal. In England there are two courts to
which this word is applied. Bancus Regius, King's Bench Bancus Communis,
Com-mon Bench or Pleas. The jus banci, says Spelman, properly belongs to the
king's judges, who administer justice in the last resort. The judges of the
inferior courts, as of the barons, are deemed to, judge plano pede, and are
such as are called in the civil law pedanei judices, or by the Greeks
Xauaidixastai, that is, humi judicantes. The Greeks called the seats of
their higher judges Bumata, and of their inferior judges Bathra. The Romans
used the word sellae and tribunalia, to designate the seats of their higher
judges, and subsellia, to designate those of the lower. See Spelman's Gloss.
(ad verb.) Bancus; also, 1 Reeves Hist. Eng. Law, 40, 4to ed., and postea
Curia Regis.