name · noun · verb · 62 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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rhymes with -æŋk
CMU ARPABET:B AE1 NG K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
A village in the New Forest in Hampshire, England.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
A major London Underground station in the City of London, named after the Bank of England and one of the busiest stations on the network (OS grid ref TQ3281)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
name
Meaning 3
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A branch office of such an institution.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Lombard house
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
An underwriter or controller of a card game.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: banker, banque
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A fund from deposits or contributions, to be used in transacting business; a joint stock or capital.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
The sum of money etc. which the dealer or banker has as a fund from which to draw stakes and pay losses.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Topics: gambling, games
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
Money; profit.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
In certain games, such as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
A safe and guaranteed place of storage for and retrieval of important items or goods.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, in-compounds
Examples
blood bank; data bank; sperm bank
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
12
noun
Meaning 12
A device used to store coins or currency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
If you want to buy a bicycle, you need to put the money in your piggy bank.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
13
noun
Meaning 13
A collection of instrument data on a digital synthesizer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
Examples
All of the drum kits are on bank 1.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
14
noun
Meaning 14
An edge of river, lake, or other watercourse.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: geography, hydrology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
15
noun
Meaning 15
An elevation under the sea; a shallow area of shifting sand, gravel, mud, and so forth
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: geography, hydrology, natural-sciences, nautical, transport
Examples
the banks of Newfoundland
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bar
Antonyms: none provided
16
noun
Meaning 16
A slope of earth, sand, etc.; an embankment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: geography, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
17
noun
Meaning 17
The incline of an aircraft, especially during a turn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
18
noun
Meaning 18
An incline, a hill.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
19
noun
Meaning 19
A mass of clouds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
The bank of clouds on the horizon announced the arrival of the predicted storm front.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
20
noun
Meaning 20
The face of the coal at which miners are working.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, mining
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
21
noun
Meaning 21
A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, mining
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
22
noun
Meaning 22
The ground at the top of a shaft.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, mining
Examples
Ores are brought to bank.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
23
noun
Meaning 23
A row or panel of items stored or grouped together.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
a bank of switches
a bank of pay phones
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
24
noun
Meaning 24
A row of keys on a musical keyboard or the equivalent on a typewriter keyboard.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
25
noun
Meaning 25
A contiguous block of memory that is of fixed, hardware-dependent size, but often larger than a page and partitioning the memory such that two distinct banks do not overlap.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
26
noun
Meaning 26
A set of multiple adjacent drop targets.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: pinball
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
27
noun
Meaning 27
A bench, as for rowers in a galley; also, a tier of oars.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
28
noun
Meaning 28
A bench or seat for judges in court.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
29
noun
Meaning 29
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
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
30
noun
Meaning 30
A kind of table used by printers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
Topics: media, printing, publishing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
31
noun
Meaning 31
A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
32
verb
Meaning 32
To deal with a bank or financial institution, or for an institution to provide financial services to a client.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
He banked with Barclays.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
33
verb
Meaning 33
To put into a bank.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
I’m going to bank the money.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
34
verb
Meaning 34
To conceal in the rectum for use in prison.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang, transitive
Examples
Johnny banked some coke for me.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
35
verb
Meaning 35
To provide banking services to.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: business, finance
Examples
They proposed an ambitious plan to bank people in remote rural communities.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:bank.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
36
verb
Meaning 36
To roll or incline laterally in order to turn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Narrower terms: credit union, Federal Reserve Bank, reserve bank, agent bank, commercial bank, full service bank, state bank, lead bank, member bank, merchant bank, acquirer, thrift institution, Home Loan Bank
49
noun
Meaning 49
an arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
he operated a bank of switches
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: array
50
noun
Meaning 50
a long ridge or pile
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a huge bank of earth
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: ridge
Narrower terms: bluff, sandbank
51
noun
Meaning 51
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
they pulled the canoe up on the bank
he sat on the bank of the river and watched the currents
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: slope, incline, side
Narrower terms: riverbank, riverside, waterside
52
noun
Meaning 52
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
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cant, camber
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: slope, incline, side
53
noun
Meaning 53
the funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games
a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: reserve, backlog, stockpile
Narrower terms: blood bank, eye bank, food bank, soil bank
55
verb
Meaning 55
have confidence or faith in
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
We can trust in God
Rely on your friends
bank on your good education
I swear by my grandmother's recipes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: trust, swear, rely
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: believe
Narrower terms: credit, lean, count, bet, depend, look, calculate, reckon
56
verb
Meaning 56
cover with ashes so to control the rate of burning
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
bank a fire
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cover
57
verb
Meaning 57
enclose with a bank
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
bank roads
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: enclose, close in, inclose, shut in
58
verb
Meaning 58
tip laterally
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the pilot had to bank the aircraft
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tip
59
verb
Meaning 59
put into a bank account
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
She deposits her paycheck every month
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: deposit
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: give
Narrower terms: redeposit
60
verb
Meaning 60
be in the banking business
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: work, do work
61
verb
Meaning 61
act as the banker in a game or in gambling
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: act
62
verb
Meaning 62
do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
Where do you bank in this town?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: transact
History
Etymology
From Old English banc (“bank, hillock, embankment”), from Proto-Germanic *bankô.
Various origins: * Borrowed from Dutch and German Bank (“bench”), a metonymic occupational surname for someone who worked with a bench or counter, like a money changer. * Borrowed from Danish and Swedish Bank, a topographic surname from bank (“sandbank”) or, alternatively, a nickname for a loud an noisy person, from bank (“noise”).
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bheg-der. Proto-Germanic *bankiz Proto-West Germanic *banki Lombardic bankbor. Italian bancabor. Middle French banqueder. English bank Inherited from Middle English banke, from Middle French banque, from Italian banca (“counter, moneychanger's bench or table”), from Lombardic bank (“bench, counter”), from Proto-West Germanic *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench, counter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bheg- (“to turn, curve, bend, bow”). Doublet of bench, banc, and banco. For the bench-bank relation, compare typologically Russian ла́вка (lávka), прила́вок (prilávok).
From Middle English bank, banke, from Old English *banca (“bench”) (attested in Old English hōbanca (“couch”) and Old English banc (“bank, hillock, embankment”), from Proto-West Germanic *bankō, from Proto-Germanic *bankô. Akin to Old Norse bakki (“elevation, hill”), Norwegian bakke (“slope, hill”).
From Middle English bank, banke, from Old French banc (“bench”), from Frankish *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”). Akin to Old English benċ (“bench”).
Probably from French banc. Of Germanic origin, and akin to English bench.
Across languages
Translations
526 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Abkhaz:
абанк
(abankʼ)
— institution
Afrikaans:
bank
— institution
Albanian:
bankë
— institution
Albanian:
banka
— institution
Amharic:
ባንክ
(bank)
— institution
Western Apache:
zhááli bikih
— institution
Arabic:
مَصْرِف
(maṣrif)
— institution
Arabic:
بَنْك
(bank)
— institution
Armenian:
բանկ
(bank)
— institution
Armenian:
դրամատուն
(dramatun)
— institution
Assamese:
বেংক
(beṅko)
— institution
Asturian:
bancu
— institution
Asturian:
banca
— institution
Australian Kriol:
beingk
— institution
Azerbaijani:
bank
— institution
Azerbaijani:
sərrafxana
— institution
South Azerbaijani:
صرافخانه
— institution
Basque:
banku
— institution
Belarusian:
банк
(bank)
— institution
Bengali:
ব্যাংক
(bêṅko)
— institution
Bislama:
bang
— institution
Bole:
banki
— institution
Breton:
bank
— institution
Bulgarian:
ба́нка
(bánka)
— institution
Burmese:
ဘဏ်
(bhan)
— institution
Carpathian Rusyn:
ба́нка
(bánka)
— institution
Catalan:
banc
— institution
Chechen:
банк
(bank)
— institution
Cherokee:
ᎠᏕᎳᏗᏗᎢ
(adeladidii)
— institution
Chichewa:
banki
— institution
Chinese Cantonese:
銀行 /银行
— institution
Chinese:
йинхон
(yinhon)
— institution
Eastern Min Chinese:
銀行 /银行
(ngṳ̀ng-òng)
— institution