ben

plural bens · alternative bene

1. obsoleteA prayer; a petition.

1. Northern EnglandScotlandIn, into.

   And he was waving to me to creep in, so I just did and then just to skip ben the front and then in the lobby.

   2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 32

1. Northern EnglandScotlandnot comparableInside.

comparative benner · superlative benmost

1. Inner, interior.

plural bens

1. Northern EnglandScotlandThe inner room of a two-room cottage (as opposed to the but); the ben room.

   Bert Kerston was awakened by a steady tap on the ben window.

   1972, George Mackay Brown, Greenvoe, Polygon, published 2019, page 25

plural bens

1. A tree, Moringa oleifera or horseradish tree of Arabia and India, which produces oil of ben.
2. The winged seed of the ben tree.
3. The oil of the ben seed.

alternative Ben · alternative bin

1. capitalizeduncountableusuallySon of (used with Hebrew and Arabic surnames).

plural bens

1. A Scottish or Irish mountain or high peak.

comparative benar · superlative benat

1. UKalternativeobsoletethieves' cantAlternative spelling of bene; good.

   A gage of ben Rom-bouse, / In a bousing-ken of Rom-vile, / Is benar than a Caster, / Pecke, pennam, lay, or popler, / Which we mill in deuse a vile.

   1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girle

plural bens

1. UKobsoleteslangentertainmentA benefit (performance to raise funds).

   In the Chronicles of the Stage, some curious particulars are given relating to Sir Henry Herbert and the well-known Sir William Davidson, by which we learn, amongst other things, that a “ben” or benefit at Drury Lane, two centuries ago, was worth a hundred pounds.

   year?, The Catholic Literary Circular (page 75)

plural bens

1. IrelandalternativeAlternative form of bin.

1. A shortening of the male given name Benjamin or, less often, of Benedict.

   But Andy and Ben, they are lovers, not fighters … and they are going the battered sav.

   2016 September 11, Emily Power, “Main bathroom reveals on The Block: hold on for the bathroom without a toot”, in Domain News

   3 more examples

   Ben wolved down a digestive biscuit, then stretched out on his stomach on the flagstones beside them.

   1990, Peter James, Sweet Heart, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, →ISBN, page 156

   After a moment of comfortable silence, with Ben tenderly rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her hand, he asked, “So what do you want to do now that you’re all stuffed full of waffley goodness?”

   2013, Victoria J. Hyla, Running in the Mists (Hearts Drawn Wyld Trilogy; 2), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 300

   When mathematicians face a question they cannot answer, they sometimes devise a less stringent question, in the hope that solving it will provide insights. This is the path that Tao took in 2004, in collaboration with Ben Green of Oxford.

   2015 July 24, Gareth Cook, “The Singular Mind of Terry Tao”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2020

plural Bens

1. USslangA US$100 bill, which bears a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Often used in the plural form to indicate large sums of money.

   Synonyms: Ben Franklin, Benjamin, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin

1. The capital city of Ben County, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran.
2. A county of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran.

1. alternativeAlternative form of Beng (“Mande language of Ivory Coast”).