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What is "the ministerial benches"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
The ministerial benches

Ministerial \Min`is*te"ri*al\, a. [L. ministerialis: cf. F. minist['e]riel. See Minister, and cf. Minstrel.]

  1. Of or pertaining to ministry or service; serving; attendant.

    Enlightening spirits and ministerial flames.
    --Prior.

  2. Of or pertaining to the office of a minister or to the ministry as a body, whether civil or sacerdotal. ``Ministerial offices.''
    --Bacon. ``A ministerial measure.''
    --Junius. ``Ministerial garments.''
    --Hooker.

  3. Tending to advance or promote; contributive. ``Ministerial to intellectual culture.''
    --De Quincey.

    The ministerial benches, the benches in the House of Commons occupied by members of the cabinet and their supporters; -- also, the persons occupying them. ``Very solid and very brilliant talents distinguish the ministerial benches.''
    --Burke.

    Syn: Official; priestly; sacerdotal; ecclesiastical.

Usage examples of "the ministerial benches".

Suddenly the Socialists burst through the gates and stormed up through the ministerial benches, and a man in a red cravat reached up and snatched the documents that lay on the President's desk and flung them abroad.