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Bengal

American  
[ben-gawl, -gahl, beng-, ben-guhl, beng-] / bɛnˈgɔl, -ˈgɑl, bɛŋ-, ˈbɛn gəl, ˈbɛŋ- /

noun

  1. a former province in northeastern India, now divided between India and Bangladesh.

  2. Bay of Bengal, a part of the Indian Ocean between India and Myanmar (Burma).

  3. a raw silk from Bengal.

  4. a fabric, especially one made of silk and hair.

  5. a fabric, similar to muslin, with printed stripes.


Bengal British  
/ bɛnˈɡɔːl, bɛŋ- /

noun

  1. a former province of NE India, in the great deltas of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers: in 1947 divided into West Bengal (belonging to India) and East Bengal (Bangladesh)

  2. a wide arm of the Indian Ocean, between India and Myanmar

  3. a breed of medium-large cat with a spotted or marbled coat

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Meanwhile, Beachwood Canyon residents David Atrakchi and Sophie Meister, both actors and producers in the film industry, take their Bengal cat, Taita, for hikes near the Hollywood Reservoir, Bronson Canyon and even Joshua Tree.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 8, 2026

An estimated three million people died in eastern India in the Bengal famine, but the nature of the wartime British prime minister's role in it has long been subject to academic dispute.

From BBC Jun. 22, 2026

An intramural tournament known as the Bengal Bouts was formed and decades later ElAttrache became a champion, winning the 185-pound division in 1978.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 12, 2026

As the smooth highway north of Seville stretched into the vastness of pastoral Extremadura, the chances of finding a lynx, which remains rarer than the snow leopard or the Bengal tiger, felt impossibly small.

From The Wall Street Journal May 30, 2026

A very rare white Bengal tiger, with icy-blue eyeballs, crept out from behind a wall of bookshelves and stalked into the open area where Audubon sat painting his bird portrait.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

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