A bench plane is a versatile hand tool used for smoothing and shaping wood. It is also known as a hand plane or a bench plane. The word "bench" refers to the fact that the plane is used on a workbench, while "plane" refers to its function of smoothing or planing. However, there are several synonyms for the term bench plane, such as smoothing plane, jack plane, and fore plane. A smoothing plane is the most popular type of bench plane, while a jack plane is suitable for rough work. A fore plane is a larger, longer version of the jack plane, used for flattening and roughing out large areas.