bench bookn.
/ˈbɛn(t)ʃ bʊk/, U.S. /ˈbɛn(t)ʃ ˌbʊk/ 1. A book containing formal records of the transactions of an organization, government body, etc.; = minute-book n. 1. Now historical.Frequently in reference to the minute-book of the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court papers > [noun] > law report > books of reports
book?1518
books of years and termsc1523
yearbook1579
paper-book?1608
bench book1860
1860 Hull Packet & E. Riding Times 18 May 6/5 I will not take up time by reading them, extracts from the charters and the bench books of the Corporation for the last two centuries.
1912 Weekly Irish Times 2 Mar. 10/4 One of the earliest entries in the Bench Books of Lincoln's Inn is an order..dated 1437.
1954 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Feb. 89/3 There is..no reason why Rembrandt, even if he had been living in Hull, should necessarily have been mentioned in any of these documents, the most important of which are the Bench Books and two series of News Letters dealing largely with municipal affairs.
1995 Rec. Early Eng. Drama 20 2 I will be..directing attention to the performance-related entries in the Bench Books.
2. A book of instruction or reference, esp. one suitable for use at a workbench; a manual.
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society > communication > book > kind of book > textbook or book of instructions > [noun]
handbookOE
doctrinalc1450
directory1543
school1545
instruction book1546
companion1621
body1647
tutor1665
self-instructor1700
tutorer1702
preceptorc1710
textbook1779
self-instructer1800
bench book1887
user guide1936
user manual1936
text1955
1887 Scotsman 26 Sept. 3/5 Messrs Hamilton, Adams, & Co. have sent out a Bench Book for Test Tube Work in Chemistry, by Mr H. T. Lilley, M. A.
1939 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 Apr. 674/1 This work..is neither a satisfactory bench book nor an adequate work of reference.
1977 Man New Ser. 12 180/2 This is a bench book for a working haemoglobin laboratory.
1996 Libr. Q. 66 491 It is hoped that the Hungarian STC [sc. Short-Title Catalogue] will become a bench-book to many an academic and private scholar.
3. Law. A guide to legal procedure, intended for use by a judge.
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1975 Stanford Law Rev. 27 479 The so-called ‘Bench Book’ supplied to each new judge provides guidance in the less formal aspects of federal procedure.
1988 Times 7 Apr. 13/5 Judges are to be issued with..‘bench books’ giving them sentencing guidelines.
2013 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 28 Dec. 2 Victimisation and unreasonable work expectations are offered as potential examples of workplace bullying in a draft benchbook released by the commission.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1860