BANK

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bank mean? 

• BANK (noun)
  The noun BANK has 10 senses:

1. sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)

2. a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities

3. a long ridge or pile

4. an arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers

5. a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies)

6. the funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games

7. a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force

8. a container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping money at home

9. a building in which the business of banking transacted

10. a flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning)

  Familiarity information: BANK used as a noun is familiar.

• BANK (verb)
  The verb BANK has 8 senses:

1. tip laterally

2. enclose with a bank

3. do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank

4. act as the banker in a game or in gambling

5. be in the banking business

6. put into a bank account

7. cover with ashes so to control the rate of burning

8. have faith or confidence in

  Familiarity information: BANK used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BANK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

he sat on the bank of the river and watched the currents

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

incline; side; slope (an elevated geological formation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bank"):

riverbank; riverside (the bank of a river)

waterside (land bordering a body of water)

Derivation:

bank (enclose with a bank)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bank; banking company; banking concern; depository financial institution

Context example:

that bank holds the mortgage on my home

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

financial institution; financial organisation; financial organization (an institution (public or private) that collects funds (from the public or other institutions) and invests them in financial assets)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bank"):

acquirer (a corporation gaining financial control over another corporation or financial institution through a payment in cash or an exchange of stock)

Home Loan Bank (one of 11 regional banks that monitor and make short-term credit advances to thrift institutions in their region)

thrift institution (a depository financial institution intended to encourage personal savings and home buying)

acquirer; merchant bank (a credit card processing bank; merchants receive credit for credit card receipts less a processing fee)

member bank (a bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System)

agent bank; lead bank (a bank named by a lending syndicate of several banks to protect their interests)

state bank (a bank chartered by a state rather than by the federal government)

commercial bank; full service bank (a financial institution that accepts demand deposits and makes loans and provides other services for the public)

agent bank (a bank that acts as an agent for a foreign bank)

Federal Reserve Bank; reserve bank (one of 12 regional banks that monitor and act as depositories for banks in their region)

credit union (a cooperative depository financial institution whose members can obtain loans from their combined savings)

Holonyms ("bank" is a member of...):

banking industry; banking system (banks collectively)

Derivation:

bank (put into a bank account)

bank (be in the banking business)

bank (do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A long ridge or pile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

a huge bank of earth

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

ridge (a long narrow natural elevation or striation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bank"):

bluff (a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion))

sandbank (a submerged bank of sand near a shore or in a river; can be exposed at low tide)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

he operated a bank of switches

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

array (an orderly arrangement)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

backlog; reserve; stockpile (something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bank"):

blood bank (a place for storing whole blood or blood plasma)

eye bank (a place for storing and preserving corneas that are obtained from human corpses immediately after death; used for corneal transplantation to patients with corneal defects)

food bank (a place where food is contributed and made available to those in need)

soil bank (land retired from crop cultivation and planted with soil-building crops; government subsidies are paid to farmers for their retired land)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Context example:

he tried to break the bank at Monte Carlo

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

cash in hand; finances; funds; monetary resource; pecuniary resource (assets in the form of money)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

bank; camber; cant

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

incline; side; slope (an elevated geological formation)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping money at home

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bank; coin bank; money box; savings bank

Context example:

the coin bank was empty

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

container (any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bank"):

penny bank; piggy bank (a child's coin bank (often shaped like a pig))

Sense 9

Meaning:

A building in which the business of banking transacted

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bank; bank building

Context example:

the bank is on the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

deposit; depositary; depository; repository (a facility where things can be deposited for storage or safekeeping)

Meronyms (parts of "bank"):

bank vault; vault (a strongroom or compartment (often made of steel) for safekeeping of valuables)

Derivation:

bank (put into a bank account)

bank (be in the banking business)

bank (do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the plane went into a steep bank

Hypernyms ("bank" is a kind of...):

airplane maneuver; flight maneuver (a maneuver executed by an aircraft)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bank"):

vertical bank (a bank so steep that the plane's lateral axis approaches the vertical)

Derivation:

bank (tip laterally)

• BANK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bank    ... he / she / it banks   
Past simple: banked   
Past participle: banked   
-ing form: banking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tip laterally

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

the pilot had to bank the aircraft

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

tip (cause to tilt)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bank (a flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Enclose with a bank

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

bank roads

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

close in; enclose; inclose; shut in (surround completely)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bank (sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

Where do you bank in this town?

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

transact (conduct business)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

bank (a building in which the business of banking transacted)

bank (a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities)

bankable (acceptable to or at a bank)

banking (transacting business with a bank; depositing or withdrawing funds or requesting a loan etc.)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Act as the banker in a game or in gambling

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

act (discharge one's duties)

Verb group:

bank (be in the banking business)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be in the banking business

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

do work; work (be employed)

Verb group:

bank (act as the banker in a game or in gambling)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

bank (a building in which the business of banking transacted)

bank (a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities)

bankable (acceptable to or at a bank)

banker (a financier who owns or is an executive in a bank)

banking (engaging in the business of keeping money for savings and checking accounts or for exchange or for issuing loans and credit etc.)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Put into a bank account

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bank; deposit

Context example:

She deposits her paycheck every month

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bank"):

redeposit (deposit once again)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They bank the money

Derivation:

bank (a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities)

banking (transacting business with a bank; depositing or withdrawing funds or requesting a loan etc.)

bankable (acceptable to or at a bank)

bank (a building in which the business of banking transacted)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Cover with ashes so to control the rate of burning

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

bank a fire

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Have faith or confidence in

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

bank; bet; calculate; count; depend; look; reckon; rely; swear

Context example:

Depend on your family in times of crisis

Hypernyms (to "bank" is one way to...):

trust (have confidence or faith in)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

"I'll put it in the bank for you," she said finally.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

In this desolate condition I advanced forward, and soon got upon firm ground, where I sat down on a bank to rest myself, and consider what I had best do.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The bank immediately pulled back the money and placed it back in my checking account.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This fellow Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the matter.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Maybe bank lose twenty thousand dollars, maybe bank win.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I’ll have the plate moved over to the bank this evening.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As Armitage it was that I entered a London banking house, and as Armitage I was convicted of breaking my country’s laws, and was sentenced to transportation.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They have a hostel of their own now, somewhere on the banks of the Garonne, where the landlord drinks so much of the liquor that there is little left for the customers.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The scud had banked over the moon, and it was now quite dark.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The house was a fair-sized one, standing back from the road, with a curving drive which was banked with high evergreen shrubs.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)