To remove a player from a sports game and have them sit on the bench, or to set something aside temporarily.
From 'bench' (Old English 'benc,' a long seat), with the '-ed' past tense suffix. The sports usage became common in American English in the 1900s.
In sports, getting benched is a unique punishment—you're literally visible but unable to play, watching your team without you, which some athletes find more humiliating than sitting elsewhere!
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