banquette

[bang-ket, bang-kit]

noun

1. a long bench with an upholstered seat, especially one along a wall, as in a restaurant.

2. an embankment for buttressing the base of a levee and forming a berm.

3. Chiefly Coastal Louisiana and East Texas.,  a sidewalk, especially a raised one of bricks or planks.

4. Fortification.,  a platform or step along the inside of a parapet, for soldiers to stand on when firing.

5. a ledge running across the back of a buffet.

6. a bench for passengers on top of a stagecoach.

banquette

/ bæŋˈkɛt /

noun

1. an upholstered bench

2. (formerly) a raised part behind a parapet

3. a footbridge

Word History and Origins

Origin of banquette¹

1620–30; < French < Provençal banqueta, equivalent to banc bench ( bank ³ ) + -eta -ette

Word History and Origins

Origin of banquette¹

C17: from French, from Provençal banqueta , literally: a little bench, from banc bench; see _bank ³

Example Sentences

Working in the spiegeltent, which has a circular stage in its center and is ringed by wooden tables and plush VIP banquettes, is unlike performing in any other venue, Lee says.

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Grabbing a seat on the gray banquette by the window, I pulled aside a blue curtain and was astounded by the view of peachy-pink clouds as we rolled across the rugged desert.

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Customers occupied almost every table and banquette, many chowing down the restaurant’s signature chop suey — which, like a lot of food served at the Chicago Cafe, is a Chinese American dish unfamiliar in China itself.

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I first saw live belly dancers at my favorite restaurant, Moun of Tunis, on Sunset, where diners sat on low banquettes and ate off brass tables.

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Sink into one of the plush leather banquettes to nosh on steakhouse classics like steak tartare, creamed kale and the most incredible double cheeseburger topped with in-house American cheese and dill aioli.

Read more on Seattle Times