The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bank \Bank\ (b[a^][ng]k), n. [OE. banke; akin to E. bench, and prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. bakki. See Bench.]
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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. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine.
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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. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland.
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(Mining)
The face of the coal at which miners are working.
A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level.
The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank.
(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.
A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc.
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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.