from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bank \Bank\ (b[a^][ng]k), 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. (A["e]ronautics) The lateral inclination of an
a["e]roplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45[deg]
is easy; a bank of 90[deg] 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]