{ Banc (&unr_;), Bancus (&unr_;), Bank (&unr_;), } n. [OF. banc, LL. bancus. See Bank, n.] A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court.
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In banc, In banco (the ablative of bancus), In bank, in full court, or with full judicial authority; as, sittings in banc (distinguished from sittings at nisi prius).
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Bank (bă&nsmacr_;k), 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.
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They cast up a bank against the city. 2 Sam. xx. 15.
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2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine.
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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.
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Tiber trembled underneath her banks. Shak.
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4. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland.
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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.
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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.
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7. A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc.
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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.
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Bank beaver (Zoöl.), 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.
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Bank, n. [Prob. fr. F. banc. Of German origin, and akin to E. bench. See Bench.] 1. A bench, as for rowers in a galley; also, a tier of oars.
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Placed on their banks, the lusty Trojan sweep
Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep. Waller.
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2. (Law) (a) The bench or seat upon which the judges sit. (b) 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. Burrill.
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3. (Printing) A sort of table used by printers.
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4. (Music) A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ. Knight.
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Bank, v. t. To deposit in a bank. Johnson.
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Bank, v. i. (Aëronautics) To tilt sidewise in rounding a curve; -- said of a flying machine, an aërocurve, or the like.
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