4 N‑UNCOUNT If you have the benefit of some information, knowledge, or equipment, you are able to use it so that you can achieve something. □ [+ of ] Steve didn't have the benefit of a formal college education.
5 N‑VAR [oft on N ] Benefit is money that is given by the government to people who are poor, ill, or unemployed. □ …the removal of benefit from school-leavers.
6 N‑COUNT [oft N n] A benefit , or a benefit concert or dinner, is an event that is held in order to raise money for a particular charity or person. □ I am organising a benefit gig in Bristol to raise these funds.
7 → see also fringe benefit , unemployment benefit
8 PHRASE If you give someone the benefit of the doubt , you treat them as if they are telling the truth or as if they have behaved properly, even though you are not sure that this is the case. □ At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
9 PHRASE If you say that someone is doing something for the benefit of a particular person, you mean that they are doing it for that person. □ You need people working for the benefit of the community. COLLOCATIONS benefit NOUN
1
verb + benefit : gain, obtain, reap; enjoy
5
noun + benefit : disability, housing, sickness, unemployment, welfare
adjective + benefit : in-work, means-tested, out-of-work
verb + benefit : claim, receive VERB 3
benefit + adverb : enormously, greatly, hugely; financially; disproportionately
Bene|lux /be n I lʌks/ ADJ [ADJ n] The Benelux countries are Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
be|nevo|lent /b I ne vələnt/
1 ADJ If you describe a person in authority as benevolent , you mean that they are kind and fair. □ The company has proved to be a most benevolent employer. ● be|nevo|lent|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ Thorne nodded his understanding, smiling benevolently. ● be|nevo|lence N‑UNCOUNT □ A bit of benevolence from people in power is not what we need.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Benevolent is used in the names of some organizations that give money and help to people who need it. [BRIT ] □ …the Army Benevolent Fund.
Ben|ga|li /beŋgɔː li/ (Bengalis )
1 ADJ Bengali means belonging or relating to Bengal, or to its people or language. □ She married a Bengali doctor.
2 N‑COUNT A Bengali is a person who comes from Bangladesh or West Bengal.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Bengali is the language that is spoken by people who live in Bangladesh and by many people in West Bengal.
be|night|ed /b I na I t I d/ ADJ [ADJ n] If you describe people or the place where they live as benighted , you think they are unfortunate or do not know anything. [LITERARY , DISAPPROVAL ] □ Famine hit that benighted country once more.
be|nign /b I na I n/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] You use benign to describe someone who is kind, gentle, and harmless. □ They are normally a more benign audience. ● be|nign|ly ADV [usu ADV with v] □ I just smiled benignly and stood back.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A benign substance or process does not have any harmful effects. □ We're taking relatively benign medicines and we're turning them into poisons.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A benign tumour will not cause death or serious harm. [MEDICAL ] □ It wasn't cancer, only a benign tumour.
4 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Benign conditions are pleasant or make it easy for something to happen. □ They enjoyed an especially benign climate.
bent /be nt/
1 Bent is the past tense and past participle of bend .
2 ADJ If an object is bent , it is damaged and no longer has its correct shape. □ The trees were all bent and twisted from the wind.
3 ADJ If a person is bent , their body has become curved because of old age or disease. [WRITTEN ] □ …a bent, frail, old man.
4 ADJ If someone is bent on doing something, especially something harmful, they are determined to do it. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [+ on/upon ] He's bent on suicide.
5 N‑SING If you have a bent for something, you have a natural ability to do it or a natural interest in it. □ [+ for ] His bent for natural history directed him towards his first job.
6 N‑SING [adj N ] If someone is of a particular bent , they hold a particular set of beliefs. □ …economists of a socialist bent.
7 ADJ If you say that someone in a position of responsibility is bent , you mean that they are dishonest or do illegal things. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ …this bent accountant.
8 PHRASE If someone is bent double , the top part of their body is leaning forward towards their legs, usually because they are in great pain or because they are laughing a lot. In American English, you can also say that someone is bent over double . □ [+ with/in ] He left the courtroom on the first day bent double with stomach pain.
ben|zene /be nziːn/ N‑UNCOUNT Benzene is a clear, colourless liquid which is used to make plastics.
be|queath /b I kwiː ð/ (bequeaths , bequeathing , bequeathed )
1 VERB If you bequeath your money or property to someone, you legally state that they should have it when you die. [FORMAL ] □ [V n + to ] He bequeathed all his silver to his children.