bank

The word bank is used as a noun to refer to a place where people deposit money or to a long mound or slope, like a riverbank. Bank is also used as a verb meaning to bounce off of something. The word bank is very common and has several other senses, as both a noun and a verb.

A bank is an institution that allows people to deposit money into an account (called a bank account) for safekeeping. Banks often offer many other money-related services such as lending money, sending money to other people, exchanging large bills for smaller bills, and providing credit cards. Physical buildings where these services are offered are called banks, and the companies that own and operate these institutions are also called banks. This kind of business is called banking, and a person who works in this business is called a banker.

• Real-life examples: In the United States, major banks include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citibank. Examples of banks based in other countries include HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Bank of China.
• Used in a sentence: I need to stop at the bank to get some money from my checking account. 

The noun bank is also used to refer to a long mound or slope.

• Real-life examples: A riverbank is one of the two slopes bordering a river—the land that contains the river on each side. A snowbank is a big pile of snow that can pile up naturally or can be created by a shovel or snowplow.
• Used in a sentence: Be careful when you walk along the banks of the river—it’s very muddy and slippery. 

As a verb, bank means to bounce or ricochet off of something, such as after falling or being thrown. This can happen with or without someone doing the banking. In basketball, a bank shot is a shot that the player banks off of the backboard instead of shooting the ball directly into the hoop.

• Used in a sentence:
  • Sarah banked the crumpled ball of paper off the cabinet and into the trash can.
  • The acorn fell off the tree and banked off of my windshield.

Bank is also used in the phrase bank on, which means to expect, depend on, or count on something to happen or someone to do something.

• Used in a sentence: You can always bank on Joe to help when no one else will.

The first records of bank come from the late 1100s. The sense that refers to a mound or slope comes from the Old Norse bakki, which means “hill” and is related to similar Scandinavian words, such as the Swedish backe, the Danish bakke, and the Germanic bank-ōn.

The first records of bank referring to a place where money is kept come from the 1400s. This sense comes from the Italian banca, meaning a “moneychanger’s table.”

What are some other forms related to bank?

• banking (continuous tense verb, noun)
• banker (noun)

What are some synonyms for bank?

• financial institution
• treasury
• embankment
• mound
• hill

What are some words that share a root or word element with bank? 

• bank account
• riverbank
• snowbank
• bench

What are some words that often get used in discussing bank?

• account
• money
• deposit
• loan
• robber
• river
• snow

Bank is a very common word that has many different meanings. Most commonly, it refers to the place where you deposit your money.

I had no intentions on going outside today but I need to go to the bank. 🥴

— naymoney (@Nay2x__) November 20, 2020

In my neighborhood, coming around a corner and my car hydroplanes onto a bank of dirt and now I'm stuck. My luck couldn't get any worse…

— Jason Farria (@JasonFarria) May 7, 2013

If there are no zombies in the next call of duty you can bank on the fact that I’m not buying it 🤦

— sign dane jackson (@Z_Brookens) May 9, 2020

True or False?

A bank of snow is a long pile of snow that has been gathered together.