banquette

American  

[bang-ket, bang-kit] / bæŋˈkɛt, ˈbæŋ kɪt /

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 British  

/ bæŋˈkɛt /

noun

1. an upholstered bench

2. (formerly) a raised part behind a parapet

3. a footbridge

---

Etymology

Origin of banquette

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

Example Sentences

For dinner, I went old school at À La Renaissance, a century-old, recently revived bistro with chunky terrazzo floors and burgundy banquettes.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times