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Webster 1913 Edition


Bank

{

Banc

, ‖

Ban′cus

,

Bank

, }
Noun.
[OF.
banc
, LL.
bancus
. See
Bank
,
Noun.
]
A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court.
In banc
,
In banco
(the ablative of bancus),
In bank
,
in full court, or with full judicial authority;
as, sittings
in banc
(distinguished from sittings at
nisi prius
)
.

Bank

(băṉk)
,
Noun.
[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
.
Shakespeare
4.
An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow;
as, the
banks
of Newfoundland
.
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
.
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.

Bank

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Banked
(băṉkt);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Banking
.]
1.
To raise a mound or dike about; to inclose, defend, or fortify with a bank; to embank.
Banked well with earth.”
Holland.
2.
To heap or pile up;
as, to
bank
sand
.
3.
To pass by the banks of.
[Obs.]
Shak.
To bank a fire
,
To bank up a fire
,
to cover the coals or embers with ashes or cinders, thus keeping the fire low but alive.

Bank

,
Noun.
[Prob. fr. F.
banc
. Of German origin, and akin to E.
bench
. See
Bench
.]
1.
A bench, as for rowers in a galley; also, a tier of oars.
Placed on their
banks
, the lusty Trojan sweep
Neptune’s smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep.
Waller.
2.
(Law)
(a)
The bench or seat upon which the judges sit.
(b)
The regular term of a court of law, or the full court sitting to hear arguments upon questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at Nisi Prius, or a court held for jury trials. See
Banc
.
Burrill.
3.
(Printing)
A sort of table used by printers.
4.
(Music)
A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ.
Knight.

Bank

,
Noun.
[F.
banque
, It.
banca
, orig. bench, table, counter, of German origin, and akin to E.
bench
; cf. G.
bank
bench, OHG.
banch
. See
Bench
, and cf.
Banco
,
Beach
.]
1.
An establishment for the custody, loan, exchange, or issue, of money, and for facilitating the transmission of funds by drafts or bills of exchange; an institution incorporated for performing one or more of such functions, or the stockholders (or their representatives, the directors), acting in their corporate capacity.
2.
The building or office used for banking purposes.
3.
A fund to be used in transacting business, especially a joint stock or capital.
Let it be no
bank
or common stock, but every man be master of his own money.
Bacon.
4.
(Gaming)
The sum of money or the checks which the dealer or banker has as a fund, from which to draw his stakes and pay his losses.
Bank credit
,
a credit by which a person who has given the required security to a bank has liberty to draw to a certain extent agreed upon.
Bank of deposit
,
a bank which receives money for safe keeping.
Bank of issue
,
a bank which issues its own notes payable to bearer.

Bank

,
Verb.
T.
To deposit in a bank.
Johnson.

Bank

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To keep a bank; to carry on the business of a banker.
2.
To deposit money in a bank; to have an account with a banker.

Webster 1828 Edition


Bank

BANK

,
Noun.
[Bank and bench are radically the same word. The sense is, that which is set, laid or extended. Applied to a mass of earth, it is a collection, that which is thrown or laid together.]
1.
A mound, pile or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding plain, either as a defense or for other purposes. 2 Sam.xx 15.
2.
Any steep acclivity, whether rising from a river, a lake, or the sea, or forming the side of a ravine, or the steep side of a hillock on a plain. When we speak of the earth in general adjoining a lake or the sea, we use the word shore; but a particular steep acclivity on the side of a lake, river or the sea, is called a bank.
3.
A bench,or a bench of rowers, in a galley; so called from their seat.
Placed on their banks, the lusty Trojans sweep.
4.
By analogy, a collection or stock of money, deposited, by a number of persons, for a particular use; that is, an aggregate of particulars, or a fund; as, to establish a bank, that is a joint fund.
5.
The place where a collection of money is deposited; a common repository of the money of individuals or of companies; also a house used for a bank.
6.
A company of persons concerned in a bank, whether a private association, or an incorporated company; the stockholders of a bank, or their representatives, the directors, acting in their corporate capacity.
7.
An elevation, or rising ground, in the sea; called also flats, shoals, shelves or shallows. These may rise to the surface of the water or near to it; but the word bank signifies also elevated ground at the bottom of the sea, when many fathoms below the surface, as the banks of Newfoundland.