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Banks

 [bangks]   Origin

Banks

   [bangks]
noun
1.
Sir Joseph, 1734–1820, English naturalist.
2.
Nathaniel Pren·tiss  [pren-tis] , 1816–94, U.S. army officer and politician: Speaker of the House 1856–57.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

bank

1   [bangk]
noun
1.
a long pile or heap; mass: a bank of earth; a bank of clouds.
2.
a slope or acclivity.
3.
Physical Geography. the slope immediately bordering a stream course along which the water normally runs.
4.
a broad elevation of the sea floor around which the water is relatively shallow but not a hazard to surface navigation.
5.
Coal Mining. the surface around the mouth of a shaft.
EXPAND
6.
Also called cant, superelevation. the inclination of the bed of a banked road or railroad.
7.
Aeronautics. the lateral inclination of an aircraft, especially during a turn.
8.
Billiards, Pool. the cushion of the table.
COLLAPSE
verb (used with object)
9.
to border with or like a bank; embank: banking the river with sandbags at flood stage.
10.
to form into a bank or heap (usually followed by up): to bank up the snow.
11.
to build (a road or railroad track) with an upward slope from the inner edge to the outer edge at a curve.
12.
Aeronautics. to tip or incline (an airplane) laterally.
13.
Billiards, Pool.
a.
to drive (a ball) to the cushion.
b.
to pocket (the object ball) by driving it against the bank.
EXPAND
14.
to cover (a fire) with ashes or fuel to make it burn long and slowly.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
15.
to build up in or form banks, as clouds or snow.
16.
Aeronautics. to tip or incline an airplane laterally.
17.
Horology. (of a lever or balance) to be halted at either end of its oscillation by striking a pin or the like.
18.
(of a road or railroad track) to slope upward from the inner edge to the outer edge at a curve.
Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English banke, Old English hōbanca couch; cognate with Old Norse bakki elevation, hill, Swedish backe, Danish bakke < Germanic *bank-ōn-; perhaps akin to Sanskrit bhañj- bend, Lithuanian bangà wave; see bank3, bench

Synonyms
1. embankment, mound, ridge, dike. 3. See shore1.

bank

2   [bangk]
noun
1.
an institution for receiving, lending, exchanging, and safeguarding money and, in some cases, issuing notes and transacting other financial business.
2.
the office or quarters of such an institution.
3.
Games.
a.
the stock or fund of pieces from which the players draw.
b.
the fund of the manager or the dealer.
4.
a special storage place: a blood bank; a sperm bank.
5.
a store or reserve.
EXPAND
6.
Obsolete.
a.
a sum of money, especially as a fund for use in business.
b.
a moneychanger's table, counter, or shop.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
7.
to keep money in or have an account with a bank: Do you bank at the Village Savings Bank?
8.
to exercise the functions of a bank or banker.
9.
Games. to hold the bank.
verb (used with object)
10.
to deposit in a bank: to bank one's paycheck.
Verb phrase
11.
bank on/upon, to count on; depend on: You can bank on him to hand you a reasonable bill for his services.
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French banque < Italian banca table, counter, moneychanger's table < Old High German bank bench

bank

3   [bangk]
noun
1.
an arrangement of objects in a line or in tiers: a bank of seats; a bank of lights.
2.
Music. a row of keys on an organ.
3.
a row of elevator cars, as in a hotel or high-rise office building.
4.
a bench for rowers in a galley.
5.
a row or tier of oars.
EXPAND
6.
the group of rowers occupying one bench or rowing one oar.
7.
Printing.
a.
(formerly) a bench on which sheets are placed as printed.
b.
Also called, especially British, random. the sloping work surface at the top of a compositor's workbench.
c.
a table or rack on which type material is stored before being made up in forms.
8.
Also called deck. Journalism. a part of a headline containing one or more lines of type, especially a part that appears below the main part.
9.
Electricity. a number of similar devices connected to act together: a bank of transformers; a bank of resistors.
COLLAPSE
verb (used with object)
10.
to arrange in a bank: to bank the seats; to bank the lights.
Origin:
1200–50; Middle English bank(e) < Old French banc bench < Germanic; see bank1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To banks
Collins
World English Dictionary
Banks (bæŋks)
 
—n
1.  Iain (Menzies). born 1954, Scottish novelist and science fiction writer. His novels include The Wasp Factory (1984), The Crow Road (1992), and The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007); science-fiction (under the name Iain M. Banks) includes Look to Windward (2000)
2.  Sir Joseph. 1743--1820, British botanist and explorer: circumnavigated the world with James Cook (1768--71)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bank
"earthen incline, edge of a river," c.1200, probably in O.E. but not attested in surviving documents, from a Scandinavian source such as O.N. banki, O.Dan. banke "sandbank," from P.Gmc. *bangkon "slope," cognate with *bankiz "shelf."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
Banks   (bāngks)  Pronunciation Key 
British botanist who took part in Captain James Cook's voyage around the world (1768-1771), during which he discovered and cataloged many species of plant and animal life.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

bank definition


  1. n.
    money; ready cash. (From bankroll.) : I can't go out with you. No bank.
  2. n.
    a toilet. (Where one makes a deposit.) : Man, where's the bank around here?
  3. tv.
    to gang up on and beat someone. (An intransitive version is bank on (so).) : They banked the kid and left him moaning.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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