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bleacher

bleacher

48 2.8
A set of outside benches where people sit to watch sports
  • noun
  • /ˈbliːtʃər/
  • US
translation icon : grada
  • Pilar sits with Amado on the football field bleachers before school starts.
  • sit in the bleachers
  • seat in the bleachers
  • students in the bleachers

Examples

  • When the game ended, we ran down the bleachers and walked home.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Parents patrol the sidelines, shout encouragement from the bleachers, and often coach, whether officially assigned the task or not.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Tomorrow after school, want to meet out back behind the bleachers?

  • - I fell out of the bleachers.

  • All right, go sit in the bleachers.

  • Your dad is probably cheering from the bleachers even as we speak.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I watched them from the bleachers of the varsity diamond as the sun went down behind me.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Five minutes later, I was at the softball field, sitting in the bleachers with Stark Hodger.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • We enter a green-painted ballpark with wooden bleachers, home of the Red Sticks.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The children sat excitedly on the bleachers as they waited for the game to begin.

Synonyms

grandstand
vsbleacher
15 5.3

The main covered seating area for people at a stadium or racetrack

is simpler bench seating usually outdoors and not a main structure
bleachers
vsbleacher
  • US
2.9

Open rows of seats, often outdoors, where people sit to watch sporting events

is the singular form used for the same outdoor uncovered seating
covered stand
vsbleacher
4.1

An area of seats under a roof that shelters spectators from weather

is usually open and lacks a roof exposing spectators to weather
tiered seat
vsbleacher
4.1

A place to sit in rising rows so people behind can see

is bench seating for groups, usually outdoors and without a roof
seats
vsbleacher
1.0

An area in a room or building with places for people to sit

is a specific outdoor tiered bench arrangement rather than any seating

How Big

grandstand
15 5.3
stand
301 2.3
bleacher
  • US
48 2.8
bench
210 1.0
seat
1.0

Surface Forms

bleacher singular
bleachers plural

Morphology

bleacher = bleach (opaque) = bleach + er

Although formally 'bleach' + '-er', the meaning 'tiered benches for spectators' is not inferable from the verb 'bleach' for an average learner and reflects a historical/idiomatic extension.

Etymology

Bleacher for the outdoor seats probably comes from bleach, because the sun would 'bleach' or whiten the wooden benches people sat on. A helpful way to remember it is to think of sun‑whitened rows of benches at a game.