the.com/bench vise

means A clamping tool bolted to a workbench that grips materials firmly in its jaws so you can saw, file, hammer, or glue with both hands free.

from 'Vise' traces back through Middle English to Old French 'vis,' meaning a screw or winding stair — itself from Latin 'vitis,' a vine, because vines spiral the way a screw thread does. The tool kept that name since its clamping action turns on exactly that spiraling screw mechanism. 'Bench' simply marks where it lives: fixed to the workbench rather than handheld, which is what separates it from smaller portable clamps.