mourners' bench
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of mourners' bench
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Only producers to have had more than one hit were the Shuberts, but Gilbert Miller headed the mourners' bench with three flops.
From Time Magazine Archive
From his mourners' bench at South Bend, Ind., Coach Frank Leahy cried, "We'll be outweighed for the first time in two years."
From Time Magazine Archive
There was no public testimony of the saved, no mourners' bench nor sawdust trail, no Bible-banging nor marimba band.
From Time Magazine Archive
One night, during a lull in the hysteria, one Tug Beavers temporizes about going to the mourners' bench.
From Time Magazine Archive
Us Culvers were down front, one pew back from the mourners’ bench where Miss Myrt’s brother from French Lick sat.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
