- bank
-
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
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
