Bengal
[ben-gawl, -gahl, beng-; ben-guh l, beng-]
- a former province in NE India, now divided between India and Bangladesh.Compare East Bengal, West Bengal.
- Bay of, a part of the Indian Ocean between India and Burma (Myanmar).
- a raw silk from Bengal.
- a fabric, especially one made of silk and hair.
- a fabric, similar to muslin, with printed stripes.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bengal
Contemporary Examples
Outnumbered five to one in Britain, Scots made up 60 percent of the merchants in Bengal, Calcutta and Madras.
Pity the poor Zanesvillians who had to batten down the hatches to avoid being eaten by the 18 free-roaming Bengal tigers.
On May 20, when she is sworn in, she will have stormed a male bastion to become Bengal's first woman chief minister.
Then, as Bengal slid into internecine chaos, Banerjee raised an inspired call: "Poriborton!"
Across Bengal, those who had once deemed her an affront have voted her in with a thumping majority.
Historical Examples
At Shabkadr a charge of the 13th Bengal Lancers was more than successful.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
The result was a battle royal that might have put to shame two Bengal tigers.
The Monster MenEdgar Rice Burroughs
I sprinkled on more powder, and up blazed the Bengal fire again.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
Hockheimer glared like a Bengal tiger about to spring upon its prey.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
"As to that, Bengal is more come-at-able than the Great Bear," said he, laughing.
BarringtonCharles James Lever
Bengal
- 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)
- Bay of Bengal a wide arm of the Indian Ocean, between India and Myanmar
- a breed of medium-large cat with a spotted or marbled coat
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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
Word Origin and History for bengal
Bengal
region in South Asia, named for its people, said to be from Banga, name of a founding chief. It is attested in Europe as far back as Marco Polo (1298), who wrote of Bangala.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper