bench press

¹

noun

1. a weightlifting exercise in which one lies supine on a bench and with both hands pushes a barbell or fixed weight upward from chest level to arm's length and then lowers it back to chest level: usually repeated in sets.
2. one complete repetition of this exercise.
3. this exercise as an event in weightlifting competition.

bench-press

²

[ bench-pres ]

verb (used with or without object)

1. to perform a bench press with (a weight):

   He is small but can bench-press more than 400 pounds.

bench press

noun

1. a weight-training exercise in which a person lies on a bench and pushes a barbell upwards with both hands from chest level until the arms are straight, then lowers it again

verb

1. intr to carry out one or more bench presses

Word History and Origins

Origin of bench press¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

This gives the muscles more time under tension than the average bench press.

From Popular-Science

The strength group, in contrast, gained nine percent in their back squat one-rep max and seven percent in the bench press.

From Outside Online

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they imagined sets of back squats and bench presses, starting with three sets of six reps and progressing to four sets of eight reps.

From Outside Online

The control group, languishing in their apartments binge-watching Outlander, got three percent weaker in the back squat and four percent weaker in the bench press.

From Outside Online

Not when jogging, not when on the rowing machine, and not when lying down to bench press.

From Popular-Science

But I could hold my own on the iron pile, by then being able to bench press close to 250 pounds.

From The Daily Beast

Clark Kent can bench press six sextillion tons, reverse the rotation of the earth, and fly to the office in six seconds.

From The Daily Beast

He looked kind of odd, but he could bench-press four hundred and fifty pounds—three times his weight!

From The Daily Beast

“They could probably tear a tree down with their hands,” says Bartee, recalling how Davis used to bench-press 400 pounds.

From The Daily Beast

BUSH. . . and now I can bench press over three hundred pounds.

From The Daily Beast