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bank1 definition

bank (baŋk)

noun

  1. an establishment for receiving, keeping, lending, or, sometimes, issuing money, and making easier the exchange of funds by checks, notes, etc.
  2. the office or building of such an establishment
  3. savings bank (sense )
    1. the fund put up by the dealer in baccarat, out of which losses are paid
    2. the entire monetary pool of a gambling establishment
    3. a common fund of chips, pieces, etc. used in playing a game, as poker or dominoes
  4. ☆ a reserve of things for later distribution or use, or a place for this; specif.,
    1. a store of blood for transfusions, body organs for transplantation, etc.
    2. a store or a device for keeping retrievable data a memory bank

Etymology: ME banke < MFr banque < OIt banca, orig., table, moneylenders' exchange table < OHG bank, bench: see bank

intransitive verb

  1. to deposit money in or do business with a bank
  2. to operate or manage a bank
  3. to be in charge of the bank, as in some gambling games

transitive verb

to deposit (money) in a bank
bank Idioms

bank on

Informal to depend on; rely on
bank2 definition

bank (baŋk)

noun

  1. a long mound or heap, as of ground, clouds, or snow; ridge
  2. a steep rise or slope, as of a hill
  3. a stretch of rising land at the edge of a body of water, esp. a stream
  4. a shoal or shallow place, as in a sea or lake; esp., a raised part of a continental shelf
  5. the sloping of an airplane laterally to avoid slipping sideways on a turn
  6. the sloping of a road, racing track, etc. laterally along a curve
  7. Billiards cushion (sense )
  8. Mining the face or top end of the body of ore

Etymology: ME banke < (prob. via Anglo-Norm *banki) ON bakki, akin to OHG & Du bank & OE benc, bench

transitive verb

  1. to heap dirt around for protection from cold, light, etc.; embank
  2. to arrange (a fire) by covering with ashes, adding fuel, etc. so that it will burn low and keep longer
  3. to heap or pile up so as to form a bank
  4. to construct (a curve in a road, etc.) so that it slopes up from the inside edge
  5. to slope (an airplane) laterally on a turn, with the inside wing low and the outside wing high so as to prevent slipping sideways
  6. Basketball to shoot (the ball) so that it bounces from the backboard into the basket
  7. Billiards
    1. to stroke (a ball) so that it recoils from a cushion
    2. to make (a shot) in this way

intransitive verb

  1. to take the form of a bank or banks
  2. to fly an airplane with lateral slope on a turn
bank3 definition

bank (baŋk)

noun

    1. a bench for rowers in a galley
    2. the rowers
  1. a row or tier of oars
  2. a row or tier of objects a bank of lights
  3. a row of keys in a keyboard or console
  4. any of the subheads under a newspaper headline

Etymology: ME banke < OFr banc, bench < Frank or OHG bank: see bank

transitive verb

to arrange in a bank

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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