[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

bank \bank\ ba^ngk, 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"eronautics the lateral inclination of an
      a"eroplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45deg
      is easy; a bank of 90deg 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
see also:
bench bank beaver bank swallow clivicola riparia 

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