Meaning of backbench | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A bench at the back of a room or seating area.
2. In a house of legislature following the model of the Westminster system (such as the UK House of Commons), any bench behind either of the front benches and occupied by members of each party group who are not party leaders, cabinet ministers, holders of offices such as the whips, etc.
   New-Zealand, UK, attributive, often
3. The back row of a classroom.
4. The back pew of a church.
5. A back bench in a courtroom.
6. The back seat of an automobile, van, or bus.
7. A position of secondary importance.
8. A group of top-level journalists who jointly review submissions and decide on the layout and emphasis of the newspaper.

Examples

“But no one was waiting at the backbench and the older fellow looked as if he had dug in to stay.”

“Some other playgoers are supping on the day's pottage at the backbenches nearby, some with a glass of reddish everyday plonk.”

“His spacious quarters indicate his transition from backbench upstart to established member of the governing team.”

“There was no separate back-bench organization ; indeed there were no back-bench caucuses in any Nigerian Legislative House, and any attempt to create one would probably have been regarded by the leadership concerned as a subversive move.”

“Both Thatcher's and Major's PPSs developed the role of trying to see that those members considered loyal to the leadership won the main positions on backbench party committees.”

“In fall 1984, Brian Mulroney led a cabinet with far more political experience than the Conservative backbench.”

“2009, John Coakley, Michael Gallagher, Politics in the Republic of Ireland, page 301, In situations of low ministerial turnover and increased professionalisation of politics, with most TDs regarding politics as a career, Taoisigh could find that impatience on the backbenches leads to calls for leadership turnover to effect promotions.”

“The petitioner who was a student of Class X was in the backbench when a lady teacher was teaching there.”

“For students who are seriously interested in studies, the front row gives them good proximity to the teacher, while for the students who want to avoid studying, the backbenches are good.”

“She slipped into a seat in the backbench and pulled out her casebook, notebook and Crim Law outline.”

“After lunch, I joined my group at the backbench for the next class.”

“Through this two-year, transcontinental colloquy, through this vast outpouring of personal sentiments and reactions from poor homes and rich, from backwoods cabins and metropolitan penthouses, from the young and old, from dubious backbench sitters and busy pillars of the congregations, from the bitter and the satisfied, each person telling it as he or she saw it.”

“We settled Gord with Thea, Jim and Jane in the backbench of church, then joined him there.”

“As a result of privatization, many are eager to do what a Norwegian rock-star-pastor recommends — namely to occupy the backbench of the church.”

“Seated on the backbench of the courtroom, Emerald had mixed feelings.”

“When they entered the courtroom Lawna noticed her father sitting lonely in the backbench.”

““This is way worse than we thought,” I whispered to Benjamin as we sat on a back bench in the diminutive courtroom.”

“Shekha, Sir Kakkar and Yavi were sitting on the front bench. Himani and Kjinlay were sitting on the backbench; all of them were concentrating on the proceedings of the court”

“They scooted into a double seat near the rear and noticed that even with four people squeezed into the backbench, they had been lucky to find the last empty places.”

“Chet and Wende looked helplessly at each other on the backbench of the Ford van.”

“Lightning outlines Woo Doggy's silhouette outside the backbench door. Kris stretches over to unlock it.”

“Niger, as a country belongs to the backbench of African soccer.”

“In other words, they were put on the proverbial backbench.”

“So far we have made the Maoist experience sit at an analytical distance in a conceptual backbench, for our attention has been focused on the more recent happenings that have given rise to the current age.”

“The Harry Potter Devotee (HPD) offers ten names that might be characters in the Harry Potter series of books (preferably from the backbenches of the wizarding world to make it more challenging), and the adult must try to guess whether they are real or fake.”

“A good spread could be allotted on a news page if the dead person was deemed worthy by the powerful and sceptical members of the “backbench” of the senior sub-editors.”

“The attitude of the Observer backbench when I filed the story the following sunday showed how happy my sub-editing colleagues from the previous winter were with my feat.”

“After his copy had dropped, MacKenzie had gone over to the backbench and instructed them: 'Don't change a word of this. Then if he's got it wrong the little fucker won't be able to wriggle out of this one!'”

CEFR level