backbenchadj

• 1

  relating to the back benches in parliament

  • He prefers to be a backbench MP.
  • Oh, Bernard, we can't have foreign policy made by yobbos like Fleet Street editors or backbench MPs!
• 2

  Pertaining to the preparation of a donor organ prior to transplantation.

  • Cold preservation is a component of the donor organ resection procedure, not the backbench preparation.
  • Regardless of the origin of the kidney graft, LD or deceased donor, backbench preparation for robotic implantation follows some specific steps.
• 3

  Secondary or inactive.

  • In contrast, the less able, the backbench players, tend to stick around, and if they're in a position of power, they are also inclined to hire and promote other also-rans or, worse, people incapable of even finishing the race.
  • In view of this, it is clear why internet service providers (ISPs) are inclined to play a backbench role when it comes to combating file sharing.

backbenchnoun

• 1

  A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

  • 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.
• 2

  governmentpoliticsA bench at the back of a room or seating area.

  • 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.
• 3

  A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

  • 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.
• 4

  A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

  • 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.
• 5

  A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

  • 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.
• 6

  A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

  • 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.
• 7

  A position of secondary importance.

  • Niger, as a country belongs to the backbench of African soccer.
  • In other words, they were put on the proverbial backbench.
• 8

  mediapublishingA group of top-level journalists who jointly review submissions and decide on the layout and emphasis of the newspaper.

  • 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.