Adjacent Words

Bank definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BANK, n. [Bank and bench are radically the same word. The sense is, that which is set, laid or extended. Applied to a mass of earth, it is a collection, that which is thrown or laid together.]
1. A mound, pile or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding plain, either as a defense or for other purposes. 2 Sam
20:15.
2. Any steep acclivity, whether rising from a river, a lake, or the sea, or forming the side of a ravine, or the steep side of a hillock on a plain. When we speak of the earth in general adjoining a lake or the sea, we use the word shore; but a particular steep acclivity on the side of a lake, river or the sea, is called a bank.
3. A bench,or a bench of rowers, in a galley; so called from their seat.
Placed on their banks, the lusty Trojans sweep.
4. By analogy, a collection or stock of money, deposited, by a number of persons, for a particular use; that is, an aggregate of particulars, or a fund; as, to establish a bank, that is a joint fund.
5. The place where a collection of money is deposited; a common repository of the money of individuals or of companies; also a house used for a bank.
6. A company of persons concerned in a bank, whether a private association, or an incorporated company; the stockholders of a bank, or their representatives, the directors, acting in their corporate capacity.
7. An elevation, or rising ground, in the sea; called also flats, shoals, shelves or shallows. These may rise to the surface of the water or near to it; but the word bank signifies also elevated ground at the bottom of the sea, when many fathoms below the surface, as the banks of Newfoundland.
BANK, v.t. To raise a mound or dyke; to inclose, defend or fortify with a bank; as, to bank a house.
2. To pass by the banks of.
As I have bank'd their towns. [Not in use.]
3. To lay up or deposit money in a bank. (Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water); "they pulled the canoe up on the bank"; "he sat on the bank of the river and watched the currents"
2: a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities; "he cashed a check at the bank"; "that bank holds the mortgage on my home" [syn: depository financial institution, bank, banking concern, banking company]
3: a long ridge or pile; "a huge bank of earth"
4: an arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers; "he operated a bank of switches"
5: a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies)
6: the funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games; "he tried to break the bank at Monte Carlo"
7: a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force [syn: bank, cant, camber]
8: a container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping money at home; "the coin bank was empty" [syn: savings bank, coin bank, money box, bank]
9: a building in which the business of banking transacted; "the bank is on the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon" [syn: bank, bank building]
10: a flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning); "the plane went into a steep bank" v
1: tip laterally; "the pilot had to bank the aircraft"
2: enclose with a bank; "bank roads"
3: do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank; "Where do you bank in this town?"
4: act as the banker in a game or in gambling
5: be in the banking business
6: put into a bank account; "She deposits her paycheck every month" [syn: deposit, bank] [ant: draw, draw off, take out, withdraw]
7: cover with ashes so to control the rate of burning; "bank a fire"
8: have confidence or faith in; "We can trust in God"; "Rely on your friends"; "bank on your good education"; "I swear by my grandmother's recipes" [syn: trust, swear, rely, bank] [ant: distrust, mistrust, suspect]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse bakki bank; akin to Old English benc bench — more at bench Date: 13th century 1. a mound, pile, or ridge raised above the surrounding level: as a. a piled-up mass of cloud or fog b. an undersea elevation rising especially from the continental shelf 2. the rising ground bordering a lake, river, or sea or forming the edge of a cut or hollow 3. a. a steep slope (as of a hill) b. the lateral inward tilt of a surface along a curve or of a vehicle (as an airplane) when turning 4. a protective or cushioning rim or piece II. verb Date: 1590 transitive verb 1. a. to raise a bank about b. to cover (as a fire) with fresh fuel and adjust the draft of air so as to keep in an inactive state c. to build (a curve) with the roadbed or track inclined laterally upward from the inside edge 2. to heap or pile in a bank 3. a. to drive (a ball in billiards) into a cushion b. to bounce (a ball or shot) off a surface (as a backboard) into or toward a goal <bank in a rebound> 4. to form or group in a tier intransitive verb 1. to rise in or form a bank — often used with up <clouds would bank up about midday, and showers fall — William Beebe> 2. a. to incline an airplane laterally b. (1) to incline laterally (2) to follow a curve or incline <skiers banking around the turn> III. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Old Italian; Middle French banque, from Old Italian banca, literally, bench, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English benc Date: 15th century 1. a. an establishment for the custody, loan, exchange, or issue of money, for the extension of credit, and for facilitating the transmission of funds b. obsolete the table, counter, or place of business of a money changer 2. a person conducting a gambling house or game; specifically dealer 3. a supply of something held in reserve: as a. the fund of supplies (as money, chips, or pieces) held by the banker or dealer for use in a game b. a fund of pieces belonging to a game (as dominoes) from which the players draw 4. a place where something is held available <memory banks>; especially a depot for the collection and storage of a biological product <a blood bank> IV. verb Date: circa 1751 intransitive verb 1. to manage a bank 2. to deposit money or have an account in a bank transitive verb to deposit or store in a bank V. noun Etymology: Middle English banc bench, from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English benc Date: 1614 1. a group or series of objects arranged together in a row or a tier: as a. a set of elevators b. a row or tier of telephones 2. one of the horizontal and usually secondary or lower divisions of a headline

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a the sloping edge of land by a river. b the area of ground alongside a river (had a picnic on the bank). 2 a raised shelf of ground; a slope. 3 an elevation in the sea or a river bed. 4 the artificial slope of a road etc., enabling vehicles to maintain speed round a curve. 5 a mass of cloud, fog, snow, etc. 6 the edge of a hollow place (e.g. the top of a mine-shaft). --v. 1 tr. & intr. (often foll. by up) heap or rise into banks. 2 tr. heap up (a fire) tightly so that it burns slowly. 3 a intr. (of a vehicle or aircraft or its occupant) travel with one side higher than the other in rounding a curve. b tr. cause (a vehicle or aircraft) to do this. 4 tr. contain or confine within a bank or banks. 5 tr. build (a road etc.) higher at the outer edge of a bend to enable fast cornering. Etymology: ME f. Gmc f. ON banki (unrecorded: cf. OIcel. bakki): rel. to BENCH 2. n. & v. --n. 1 a a financial establishment which uses money deposited by customers for investment, pays it out when required, makes loans at interest, exchanges currency, etc. b a building in which this business takes place. 2 = piggy bank. 3 a the money or tokens held by the banker in some gambling games. b the banker in such games. 4 a place for storing anything for future use (blood bank; data bank). --v. 1 tr. deposit (money or valuables) in a bank. 2 intr. engage in business as a banker. 3 intr. (often foll. by at, with) keep money (at a bank). 4 intr. act as banker in some gambling games. Phrases and idioms: bank balance the amount of money held in a bank account at a given moment. bank-bill 1 Brit. a bill drawn by one bank on another. 2 US = BANKNOTE. bank-book = PASSBOOK. bank card = cheque card. bank holiday a day on which banks are officially closed, (in the UK) usu. kept as a public holiday. bank manager a person in charge of a local branch of a bank. the Bank of England the central bank of England and Wales, issuing banknotes and having the Government as its main customer. bank on rely on (I'm banking on your help). bank statement a printed statement of transactions and balance issued periodically to the holder of a bank account. Etymology: F banque or It. banca f. med.L banca, bancus, f. Gmc: rel. to BANK(1) 3. n. 1 a row of similar objects, esp. of keys, lights, or switches. 2 a tier of oars. Etymology: ME f. OF banc f. Gmc: rel. to BANK(1), BENCH

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, n. A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, n. (A["e]ronautics) The lateral inclination of an a["e]roplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45[deg] is easy; a bank of 90[deg] is dangerous.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, v. i. (A["e]ronautics) To tilt sidewise in rounding a curve; -- said of a flying machine, an a["e]rocurve, or the like.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank (b[a^][ng]k), n. [OE. banke; akin to E. bench, and prob. of Scand. origin.; cf. Icel. bakki. See Bench.] 1. A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. They cast up a bank against the city. --2 Sam. xx. 15. 2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. 3. The margin of a watercourse; the rising ground bordering a lake, river, or sea, or forming the edge of a cutting, or other hollow. Tiber trembled underneath her banks. --Shak. 4. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. 5. (Mining) (a) The face of the coal at which miners are working. (b) A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level. (c) The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank. Bank beaver (Zo["o]l.), the otter. [Local, U.S.] Bank swallow, a small American and European swallow (Clivicola riparia) that nests in a hole which it excavates in a bank.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Banc Banc, Bancus Ban"cus, Bank Bank, n. [OF. banc, LL. bancus. See Bank, n.] A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court. In banc, In banco (the ablative of bancus), In bank, in full court, or with full judicial authority; as, sittings in banc (distinguished from sittings at nisi prius).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, v. i. 1. To keep a bank; to carry on the business of a banker.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, n. [F. banque, It. banca, orig. bench, table, counter, of German origin, and akin to E. bench; cf. G. bank bench, OHG. banch. See Bench, and cf. Banco, Beach.] 1. An establishment for the custody, loan, exchange, or issue, of money, and for facilitating the transmission of funds by drafts or bills of exchange; an institution incorporated for performing one or more of such functions, or the stockholders (or their representatives, the directors), acting in their corporate capacity. 2. The building or office used for banking purposes. 3. A fund from deposits or contributions, to be used in transacting business; a joint stock or capital. [Obs.] Let it be no bank or common stock, but every man be master of his own money. --Bacon. 4. (Gaming) The sum of money or the checks which the dealer or banker has as a fund, from which to draw his stakes and pay his losses. 5. In certain games, as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw. Bank credit, a credit by which a person who has given the required security to a bank has liberty to draw to a certain extent agreed upon. Bank of deposit, a bank which receives money for safe keeping. Bank of issue, a bank which issues its own notes payable to bearer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Banked(b[a^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Banking.] 1. To raise a mound or dike about; to inclose, defend, or fortify with a bank; to embank. ``Banked well with earth.'' --Holland. 2. To heap or pile up; as, to bank sand. 3. To pass by the banks of. [Obs.] --Shak. To bank a fire, To bank up a fire, to cover the coals or embers with ashes or cinders, thus keeping the fire low but alive.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, n. [Prob. fr. F. banc. Of German origin, and akin to E. bench. See Bench.] 1. A bench, as for rowers in a galley; also, a tier of oars. Placed on their banks, the lusty Trojan sweep Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep. --Waller. 2. (Law) (a) The bench or seat upon which the judges sit. (b) The regular term of a court of law, or the full court sitting to hear arguments upon questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at Nisi Prius, or a court held for jury trials. See Banc. --Burrill. 3. (Printing) A sort of table used by printers. 4. (Music) A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ. --Knight.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bank Bank, v. t. To deposit in a bank.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

I. FINANCE AND STORAGE (banks, banking, banked) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A bank is an institution where people or businesses can keep their money. Which bank offers you the service that best suits your financial needs?... I had £10,000 in the bank. N-COUNT 2. A bank is a building where a bank offers its services. N-COUNT 3. If you bank money, you pay it into a bank. Once you have registered your particulars with an agency and it has banked your cheque, the process begins. VERB: V n 4. If you bank with a particular bank, you have an account with that bank. My husband has banked with the Co-op since before the war. VERB: V with n 5. You use bank to refer to a store of something. For example, a blood bank is a store of blood that is kept ready for use. ...Britain's National Police Computer, one of the largest data banks in the world. N-COUNT: with supp, usu n N II. AREAS AND MASSES (banks) 1. The banks of a river, canal, or lake are the raised areas of ground along its edge. ...30 miles of new developments along both banks of the Thames. ...an old warehouse on the banks of a canal. = side N-COUNT: usu N of n 2. A bank of ground is a raised area of it with a flat top and one or two sloping sides. ...resting indolently upon a grassy bank. N-COUNT 3. A bank of something is a long high mass of it. On their journey south they hit a bank of fog off the north-east coast of Scotland. N-COUNT: N of n 4. A bank of things, especially machines, switches, or dials, is a row of them, or a series of rows. The typical laborer now sits in front of a bank of dials. N-COUNT 5. see also banked III. OTHER VERB USES (banks, banking, banked) When an aircraft banks, one of its wings rises higher than the other, usually when it is changing direction. A plane took off and banked above the highway in front of him. VERB: V

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bank:

(1) (saphah, "lip," "edge"): "By the bank of the Jordan" (2Ki 2:13); "Upon the bank of the river were very many trees" (Eze 47:7,12).

(2) (gadhah, "cuttings"): Always of banks overflowed (Jos 3:15; 4:18; Isa 8:7), as also

(3) (gidhyah, 1Ch 12:15). (4) (solelah, "mound," "rampart"): "Cast up a bank against the city" (2Sa 20:15, the English Revised Version "mount," the American Standard Revised Version "mound"; compare 2Ki 19:32; Isa 37:33). "Banks of sweet herbs" (So 5:13); "the marginal rendering is the right one, `towers of perfumes,' i.e. plants with fragrant leaves and flowers trained on trellis-work" (Speaker's Commentary in the place cited.).

(5) (charax, "a stake," "entrenchment"): "Thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee" (Lu 19:43 the King James Version "trench"). It is probably a military term and stands for a "palisade" (so the Revised Version, margin), i.e. probably an embankment of stakes strengthened with branches and earth, with a ditch behind it, used by the besiegers as a protection against arrows or attacking parties (Latin vallum), such, no doubt, as was employed by Titus in the siege of Jerusalem, 70 AD (Josephus, BJ, V, vi, 2).

(6) BANK; BANKING (which see).

M. O. Evans

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Mound, knoll, rising ground, heap, pile, tumulus, dike. 2. Shore, brim, brink, margin, marge, border, bound, rim, rivage. 3. Shoal, shallow, bar, sandbank, syrtis. 4. Bench, thwart, beam, rowing-beam. 5. Row, tier, course. 6. Banking-house, (one's) banker's, the money-lender's, the usurer's. II. v. a. 1. Embank, dike, surround with a bank. 2. Deposit (in the bank), lay up, put in the bank. III. v. n. Have one's account, keep one's funds, conduct one's business, do banking, make one's transactions.

Moby Thesaurus

Bank of England, Bank of France, Federal Reserve bank, Fort Knox, Indian file, Indian reservation, International Monetary Fund, Lombard Street bank, Swiss bank, World Bank, abatis, abutment, advanced work, align, anthill, arc-boutant, arch dam, archives, arm, armor, armor-plate, armory, array, arsenal, articulation, ascend, attic, backstop, balistraria, bamboo curtain, bank up, banquette, bar, barbed-wire entanglement, barbican, barrage, barricade, barrier, bartizan, basement, bastion, battle, battlement, bay, beach, beam, bear-trap dam, beaver dam, berm, bet on, bevel, bezel, bin, bird sanctuary, blockade, board, bonded warehouse, bookcase, boom, border, bordure, box, branch bank, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall, brim, brink, broadside, brow, buffer, build on, bulkhead, bulwark, bundle away, bunker, burn, bursary, buttery, buttress, buttress pier, buttressing, buzz, cache, calculate, cant, careen, cargo dock, casemate, cash register, cashbox, castellate, catena, catenation, cellar, central bank, chain, chain reaction, chaining, cheek, chest, cheval-de-frise, chop, chute, circumvallation, clearing house, climb, closet, coal mine, coast, coastland, coastline, cock, coffer, cofferdam, coin box, colliery, commercial bank, compact, concatenation, concentrate, conflagrate, connection, consecution, conservatory, continuum, contravallation, coral reef, count on, counterscarp, course, crab, crate, credit union, crenellate, crib, cupboard, curtain, cycle, dam, decline, defense, demibastion, depend, deposit, depository, depot, descend, descent, dig in, diggings, dike, dip, ditch, dock, drawbridge, drawer, drift, drone, drop, dump, dune, earthwork, easy slope, edge, embankment, embattle, enclosure, endless belt, endless round, enkindle, entanglement, entrench, escarp, escarpment, exchequer, fall, fall away, fall off, fan the flame, farm loan bank, feather, featheredge, federal land bank, feed, feed the fire, fence, fieldwork, file, filiation, finance company, finance corporation, fire, fisc, fishtail, flange, flank, flat, fleam, flying buttress, ford, foreshore, forest preserve, fortalice, fortification, fortify, frame, fringe, gamble on, game reserve, gamut, garrison, gate, gentle slope, glacis, glory hole, go downhill, go uphill, godown, gold depository, gold mine, gradation, grade, gradient, gravity dam, groin, hand, handedness, hanging buttress, hanging gardens, haunch, haycock, haymow, hayrick, haystack, heap, heap up, helicline, hem, hill, hillside, hip, hoard, hock shop, hold, hum, hutch, hydraulic-fill dam, ignite, inclination, incline, inclined plane, inflame, intend, invest, investment bank, iron curtain, ironbound coast, jackpot, jam, jetty, jowl, jutty, keel, kindle, kitty, labellum, labium, labrum, laterality, launching ramp, lay aside, lay away, lay down, lay in, lay in store, lean, leaping weir, ledge, lending institution, levee, library, lido, light, light up, limb, limbus, line, line up, lineage, lip, list, littoral, locker, lodge, logjam, loop, loophole, lot, lumber room, lumberyard, lunette, machicolation, magasin, magazine, man, man the garrison, mantelet, many-sidedness, marge, margin, mass, member bank, merlon, milldam, mine, moat, mole, molehill, money chest, moneyed corporation, monotone, mortgage company, mound, mountain, mow, multilaterality, museum, mutual savings bank, national bank, national forest, national park, nexus, nonmember bank, open cut, opencast, outwork, pack away, palisade, paradise, parados, parapet, park, pawnbroker, pawnbrokery, pawnshop, pendulum, penny bank, periodicity, pier, pier buttress, piggy bank, pile, pile up, pit, pitch, plage, plan, planking, playa, plenum, plow, pool, pork barrel, porpoise, portcullis, postern gate, pot, powder train, preserve, profile, progression, public crib, public till, public treasury, public trough, pull out, pull up, push down, put away, pyramid, quarry, quarter, queue, rack, ragged edge, rake, ramp, rampart, range, rank, ravelin, reckon on, recurrence, redan, redoubt, reef, rekindle, relight, relume, repertory, reposit, repository, reservation, reserve, reserve bank, reservoir, retaining wall, reticulation, retreat, rick, rim, rise, riverside, riviera, roadblock, rock-fill dam, rockbound coast, roll, rotation, round, routine, row, run, safe, safe-deposit box, sally port, salt away, salt down, sanctuary, sandbank, sandbar, sands, save, savings bank, scale, scarp, sconce, sea line, sea margin, seabank, seabeach, seaboard, seacliff, seacoast, seashore, seaside, seawall, selvage, sequence, series, set aside, set fire to, set on fire, shaft, shallow, shallows, shelf, shelve, shelving beach, shingle, shoal, shoal water, shore, shoreline, shoulder, shutter dam, side, sideline, sideslip, siding, sidle, single file, skid, skirt, slant, slope, snowbank, snowdrift, spectrum, spin, spiral, squirrel away, stack, stack room, stack up, stake, stakes, stash, state bank, state forest, steep slope, stiff climb, stir the fire, stock room, stockade, stoke, stoke the fire, stone wall, storage, store, store away, storehouse, storeroom, stow, stow away, stow down, strand, strike a light, string, string out, strong room, strongbox, stunt, submerged coast, subtreasury, succession, supply base, supply depot, swag, swath, sway, talus, tank, temple, tenaille, thread, tidal flats, tidewater, tier, tiger, till, tilt, tip, torch, touch off, train, treasure house, treasure room, treasure-house, treasury, trust company, trust in, undulate, unilaterality, uprise, vallation, vallum, vat, vault, venture, verge, wager, wall, warehouse, waterfront, waterside, weir, wetlands, wicket dam, wilderness preserve, wildlife preserve, windrow, wine cellar, work, workings, yaw