Bengal

[ben-gawl, -gahl, beng-; ben-guh l, beng-]

noun

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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bengal

Contemporary Examples of bengal

Outnumbered five to one in Britain, Scots made up 60 percent of the merchants in Bengal, Calcutta and Madras.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality
Noah Caldwell
September 18, 2014
Pity the poor Zanesvillians who had to batten down the hatches to avoid being eaten by the 18 free-roaming Bengal tigers.
Lights, Camera, Cocktails
Brody Brown
October 22, 2011
On May 20, when she is sworn in, she will have stormed a male bastion to become Bengal's first woman chief minister.
Mamata Banerjee, India's Political Superwoman
Shoma Chaudhury
May 18, 2011
Then, as Bengal slid into internecine chaos, Banerjee raised an inspired call: "Poriborton!"
Mamata Banerjee, India's Political Superwoman
Shoma Chaudhury
May 18, 2011
Across Bengal, those who had once deemed her an affront have voted her in with a thumping majority.
Mamata Banerjee, India's Political Superwoman
Shoma Chaudhury
May 18, 2011

Historical Examples of bengal

At Shabkadr a charge of the 13th Bengal Lancers was more than successful.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
The result was a battle royal that might have put to shame two Bengal tigers.
The Monster Men
Edgar Rice Burroughs
I sprinkled on more powder, and up blazed the Bengal fire again.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson
Hockheimer glared like a Bengal tiger about to spring upon its prey.
Vivian Grey
Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
"As to that, Bengal is more come-at-able than the Great Bear," said he, laughing.
Barrington
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for bengal

Bengal

noun

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

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.