bank¹ (băngk)
n.

1. A piled-up mass, as of snow or clouds. See synonyms at heap.
2. A steep natural incline.
3. An artificial embankment.
4. The slope of land adjoining a body of water, especially adjoining a river, lake, or channel. Often used in the plural.
5. A large elevated area of a sea floor. Often used in the plural.
6. Games. The cushion of a billiard or pool table.
7. The lateral inward tilting, as of a motor vehicle or an aircraft, in turning or negotiating a curve.

v., banked, bank·ing, banks.

v.tr.

1. To border or protect with a ridge or embankment.
2. To pile up; amass: banked earth along the wall.
3. To cover (a fire), as with ashes or fresh fuel, to ensure continued low burning.
4. To construct with a slope rising to the outside edge: The turns on the racetrack were steeply banked.
5. 1. To tilt (an aircraft) laterally and inwardly in flight.
   2. To tilt (a motor vehicle) laterally and inwardly when negotiating a curve.
6. Games. To strike (a billiard ball) so that it rebounds from the cushion of the table.
7. Sports. To play (a ball or puck) in such a way as to make it glance off a surface, such as a backboard or wall.

v.intr.

1. To rise in or take the form of a bank.
2. To tilt an aircraft or a motor vehicle laterally when turning.

[Middle English, of Scandinavian origin.]

bank² (băngk)
n.

1. 1. A business establishment in which money is kept for saving or commercial purposes or is invested, supplied for loans, or exchanged.
   2. The offices or building in which such an establishment is located.
2. Games.
   1. The funds of a gambling establishment.
   2. The funds held by a dealer or banker in some gambling games.
   3. The reserve pieces, cards, chips, or play money in some games, such as poker, from which the players may draw.
3. 1. A supply or stock for future or emergency use: a grain bank.
   2. Medicine. A supply of human tissues or other materials, such as blood, skin, or sperm, held in reserve for future use.
4. A place of safekeeping or storage: a computer's memory bank.
5. Obsolete. A moneychanger's table or place of business.

v., banked, bank·ing, banks.

v.tr.
To deposit in or as if in a bank.

v.intr.

1. To transact business with a bank or maintain a bank account.
2. To operate a bank.

phrasal verb:

bank on

1. To have confidence in; rely on.

[Middle English banke, from French banque, from Old Italian banca, bench, moneychanger's table, from Old High German banc.]

bank³ (băngk)
n.

1. A set of similar or matched things arranged in a row, especially:
   1. A set of elevators.
   2. A row of keys on a keyboard.
2. Nautical.
   1. A bench for rowers in a galley.
   2. A row of oars in a galley.
3. Printing. The lines of type under a headline.

tr.v., banked, bank·ing, banks.
To arrange or set up in a row: "Every street was banked with purple-blooming trees" (Doris Lessing).

[Middle English, bench, from Old French banc, from Late Latin bancus, of Germanic origin.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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