Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A platform lining a trench or parapet wall on which soldiers may stand when firing.
- noun Southern Louisiana & East Texas A raised sidewalk.
- noun A long upholstered bench placed against or built into a wall.
- noun A ledge or shelf, as on a buffet.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In fortification, a raised way or foot-bank, running along the inside of a parapet breast-high above it, on which riflemen stand to fire upon the enemy.
- noun In medieval fortification, an advanced earthwork or palisaded defense outside of the ditch.
- noun The footway of a bridge when raised above the carriageway.
- noun A bench for passengers, or the space occupied by benches, on the top of a French diligence, and hence of any public vehicle.
- noun A sidewalk.
- noun An elevated platform made of stones, running along the walls of cliff-dwellings and kivas.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A bench or seat for passengers on the top of a diligence or other public vehicle.
- noun (Fort.) A raised way or foot bank, running along the inside of a parapet, on which musketeers stand to fire upon the enemy.
- noun (Arch.) A narrow window seat; a raised shelf at the back or the top of a buffet or dresser.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A (typically upholstered) bench-like seat that runs along a wall.
- noun A similar bench in a military trench which soldiers stand on to shoot.
- noun A sidewalk.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an upholstered bench
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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_banquette_ on a fine summer's day is one of the most enjoyable places in life; it is cheap, and certainly not too rapid (five or six miles an hour being the average); and we can sit almost as comfortably in a corner of the banquette as in an easy-chair.
Normandy Picturesque Henry Blackburn 1863
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It is, when all is said and done, on the gallery that this city lives most of its life -- on the gallery even more than on the evening-thronged banquette, which is the sidewalk of the North, or the boulevards, or even the fragrant parks, where life flows in a fair, placid stream.
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The banquette is a seat on the top of the coach, and though it is covered above, it is open in front, and so it affords an excellent view.
Rollo on the Rhine Jacob Abbott 1841
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The compartment immediately beneath the banquette, which is the front compartment of the body of the coach, is called the _coupé_.
Rollo in Switzerland Jacob Abbott 1841
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And almost on the other side of the curve of the banquette was a woman, who wasn’t terribly attractive.
The New Yorker Stories Ann Beattie 2010
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Approximately four feet down, halfway to the floor, the wall widened abruptly into a bench called a "banquette" by the archaeologists.
A Rock in the Baltic Barr, Robert, 1850-1912 1906
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But to the colonies these changes were not carried, and such changes as occurred in the French and English of America were, for the most part, separate and distinct (as exampled by such Creole words as "banquette" for "sidewalk," in place of the
American Adventures A Second Trip 'Abroad at home' Julian Street 1913
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Instead of the sleek, design-conscious interior you expected for so renowned an avant-garde restaurant, you are led to a red velvet, cushioned banquette and a table covered in thick white linens.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices Lisa Abend 2011
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You might have to lengthen the sofa legs a bit to make it more like a banquette.
In the Mood for Kitchens With Character Rita Konig 2011
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Among the inexplicable fashions and inspired dancing, I stood alone next to a banquette, and in a quiet, shocking moment realized the fogged-up atrium was filled with people I loved.
Welcome to My World Johnny Weir 2011
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