Bank n.
 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.   --Shak.
 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.
 6. Aëronautics The lateral inclination of an aëroplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45° is easy; a bank of 90° is dangerous.
 7. A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc.
 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 swal·low See under 1st Bank, n.
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 bank swallow
      n : swallow of the northern hemisphere that nests in tunnels dug
          in clay or sand banks [syn: bank martin, sand martin,
           Riparia riparia]