wooden pew
1
3.5
- noun
- /ˈwʊdən pju/
:
banco de madera
- I took a seat on a wooden pew in the very back of the chapel.
- a polished wooden pew
- rows of wooden pews
- an old wooden pew
Examples
-
A blinding white church, all right angles, dusty, vibrant heat, red-tiled floor, roughly hewn wooden pews that might give you a splinter.
Fiction book (1993) -
Now, 1,500 of Beizhan's 5,000 residents fill the wooden pews on a typical Sunday, with up to 3,000 on holy days like Christmas.
-
At the first chords of Bach, I felt the music coming up and into my body through the wooden pews.
Academic text (2002) -
It didn't have fixed, bolted-down wooden pews.
-
Books of Common Prayer, hard wooden pews, a perfume of human breath and burning wax, a Union Jack hung above a shrine to the fallen.
Blog text (15) -
The ends of some of the P102 wooden pews had been deeply gouged by chains that secured sheepdogs accompanying their masters to church.
Fiction book (1990) -
In the marble hall, the lawyer spoke briefly to Paul, and then, without fanfare, they were all four in the courtroom before the high-throned judge, the district attorney, the bailiff, the stenographer, and other people who sat scattered in the wooden pews, as if this was some kind of show.
Fiction book (2002) -
I took a seat on a wooden pew in the very back of the chapel.
-
The old wooden pews creaked as people used the break between speakers to reposition themselves.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
The part of a chair or bench that you sit on
210
1.0
A long hard seat for several people, often made of wood
110
5.3
A long bench with a back in a church for people to sit on
A long wooden seat with a back for people to sit in a church
How Comfortable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a long bench made of wood' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'wooden' (made of wood) with 'pew' (a church bench). This simple adjective+noun compositional pattern is common across languages and follows standard descriptive grammar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it.
Etymology
The name wooden pew gives a clear picture: pew is the long bench found in a church and wooden shows it is made of wood. So, it means a long wooden bench where people 'sit' during a service.