What is "bank swallow"

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.

   They cast up a bank against the city.
   --2 Sam. xx. 15.

2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine.

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.

   Tiber trembled underneath her banks.
   --Shak.

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

5. (Mining)

   1. The face of the coal at which miners are working.

   2. A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level.

   3. The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank.

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.

7. A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc.

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.

   Bank beaver (Zo["o]l.), 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.

Bank swallow \Bank" swal"low\ See under 1st Bank, n. [1913 Webster] ||

n. A small American and European swallow ((taxlink Riparia riparia species noshow=1)) that nests in a hole which it excavates in a bank.

n. swallow of the northern hemisphere that nests in tunnels dug in clay or sand banks [syn: bank martin, sand martin, Riparia riparia]