bank
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A business that keeps money safe and lends it; also the land along a river.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bangkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbæŋk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
An institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs.
countablechiefly in combination
A safe and guaranteed place of storage for and retrieval of important items or goods.
countable
A branch office of such an institution.
countable
An underwriter or controller of a card game.
countable
A fund from deposits or contributions, to be used in transacting business; a joint stock or capital.
countable
In certain games, such as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw.
verb
intransitive
To deal with a bank or financial institution, or for an institution to provide financial services to a client.
transitive
To raise a mound or dike about; to enclose, defend, or fortify with a bank; to embank.
transitive
To cover the embers of a fire with ashes in order to retain heat.
transitive
To put into a bank.
transitive
To cause (an aircraft) to bank.
transitive
To form into a bank or heap, to bank up.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs.
Used this way, bank is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a financial use: it has a settled meaning in accounting and business, where precision matters more than colour.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Finance/economics
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bank
- “They pulled the canoe up on the bank.”noun
- “He cashed a check at the bank.”noun
- “The bank is on the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
A financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities.
A sum of money given as a security for a borrowed item, which will be given back when the item is returned, e.g. a….
A type of financial institution that focuses on retail banking: savings of private depositors, payments, credits and….
A tin, often with a slot in the top, for depositing coins, used by children to save money.
A building in which commercial banking is transacted.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Engaging in the business of keeping money for savings and checking accounts or for exchange or for issuing loans and credit etc.
A financier who owns or is an executive in a bank.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Money deposited in a bank or some similar institution.
The responsibility of a bank to act in the best interests of the depositors.
Interest on an annual basis deducted in advance on a loan.
A draft drawn by a bank against funds deposited in another bank.
An examination of the affairs and records of a bank by a state or federal bank examiner.
An examiner appointed to audit the accounts of banks in a given jurisdiction.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank).
Banking: a time draft drawn on and accepted by a bank.
A piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank).
A letter of credit issued by a bank or express company that is payable on presentation to any correspondent of the issuer.
A draft drawn by a bank against funds deposited in another bank.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs
Antonyms
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