banquette

Noun

banquette (plural banquettes)

1. A narrow area behind a defensive wall's parapet elevated above its terreplein and used by defenders to shoot at attackers.
2. A bench built into a wall, especially (military) one built into a wall of a defensive trench, used for sitting and for shooting at attackers.
3. An upholstered bench, e.g., along a wall of a restaurant or lounge area.
   • Stoned, she would traipse in, overtly sexual in last night's dress, and throw herself exhausted across the banquette.2017, Fiona Lewis, Mistakes Were Made (Some in French), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 165
4. (dated) A bench or similar seat on top of a diligence or other public vehicle.
   • My brother-in-law […] took refuge in the banquette.1899, Julia Ward Howe, Reminiscences
5. (Louisiana, Texas) A sidewalk.
   • The boys were dragging along the banquette a small “express wagon,” which they had filled with blocks and sticks.1899, Kate Chopin, The Awakening
   • “Get the hell away from that stove, Charmaine, and go play out on the banquette before I bust you right in the mouth.”1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN