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. [ 1913 Webster ]

They cast up a bank against the city. 2 Sam. xx. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tiber trembled underneath her banks. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Aëronautics) The lateral inclination of an aëroplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45° is easy; a bank of 90° is dangerous. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

7. A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

8. The tilt of a roadway or railroad, at a curve in the road, designed to counteract centrifugal forces acting on vehicles moving rapiudly around the curve, thus reducing the danger of overturning during a turn. [ PJC ]

Bank beaver (Zool.), 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Aëronautics) To tilt sidewise in rounding a curve; -- said of a flying machine, an aërocurve, or the like. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The building or office used for banking purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A fund to be used in transacting business, especially a joint stock or capital. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let it be no bank or common stock, but every man be master of his own money. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. In certain games, as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw; in Monopoly, the fund of money used to pay bonuses due to the players, or to which they pay fines. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

6. a place where something is stored and held available for future use; specifically, an organization that stores biological products for medical needs; as, a blood bank, an organ bank, a sperm bank. [ PJC ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deposit in a bank. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To keep a bank; to carry on the business of a banker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To deposit money in a bank; to have an account with a banker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Banked(bă&nsmacr_;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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To heap or pile up; as, to bank sand. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To pass by the banks of. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Engineering) To build (a roadway or railroad) with an inclination at a curve in the road, so as to counteract centrifugal forces acting on vehicles moving rapiudly around the curve, thus reducing the danger of vehicles overturning at a curve; as, the raceway was steeply banked at the curves. [ PJC ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ OF. banc, LL. bancus. See Bank, n. ] A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court. [ 1913 Webster ]

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). [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Placed on their banks, the lusty Trojan sweep
Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Printing) A sort of table used by printers. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Music) A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Receivable at a bank. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. In America (and formerly in England), a promissory note of a bank payable to the bearer on demand, and used as currency; a bank note. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In England, a note, or a bill of exchange, of a bank, payable to order, and usually at some future specified time. Such bills are negotiable, but form, in the strict sense of the term, no part of the currency. [ 1913 Webster ]