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a company of persons or, sometimes, animals or things, joined, acting, or functioning together; aggregation; party; troop:
a band of protesters.
Music.

a group of instrumentalists playing music of a specialized type:
rock band; calypso band; mariachi band.
a musical group, usually employing brass, percussion, and often woodwind instruments, that plays especially for marching or open-air performances.
big band.
dance band.

a division of a nomadic tribe; a group of individuals who move and camp together and subsist by hunting and gathering.
a group of persons living outside the law:
a renegade band.
to unite in a troop, company, or confederacy.
to unite; confederate (often followed by together):
They banded together to oust the chairman.
to beat the band, Informal. energetically; abundantly:
It rained all day to beat the band.
a thin, flat strip of some material for binding, confining, trimming, protecting, etc.:
a band on each bunch of watercress.
a fillet, belt, or strap:
a band for the hair; a band for connecting pulleys.
a stripe, as of color or decorative work.
a strip of paper or other material serving as a label:
a cigar band.
a plain or simply styled ring, without mounted gems or the like:
a thin gold band on his finger.
(on a long-playing phonograph record) one of a set of grooves in which sound has been recorded, separated from an adjacent set or sets by grooves without recorded sound.
bands, Geneva bands.
a flat collar commonly worn by men and women in the 17th century in western Europe.
Also called frequency band, wave band. Radio and Television. a specific range of frequencies, especially a set of radio frequencies, as HF, VHF, and UHF.
Also called energy band. Physics. a closely spaced group of energy levels of electrons in a solid.
Computers. one or more tracks or channels on a magnetic drum.
Dentistry. a strip of thin metal encircling a tooth, usually for anchoring an orthodontic apparatus.
Anatomy, Zoology. a ribbonlike or cordlike structure encircling, binding, or connecting a part or parts.
(in handbound books) one of several cords of hemp or flax handsewn across the back of the collated signatures of a book to provide added strength.
to mark, decorate, or furnish with a band or bands.
Usually, bands. articles for binding the person or the limbs; shackles; manacles; fetters.
an obligation; bond:
the nuptial bands.
two bands or pendent stripes made usually of white lawn and worn at the throat as part of clerical garb, originally by the Swiss Calvinist clergy.
Contemporary Examples

No one has “lead singer syndrome,” that you experience in so many other bands.
Mother Falcon the 18-Piece Indie Symphonic Rock Band Taking Texas By Storm Abby Haglage June 1, 2013

Some other bands became already quite well known, of course, Local Native for instance, or the excellent and moving Best Coast.
Hedi Slimane Interview: ‘California Song’ at MOCA Los Angeles (PHOTOS) Isabel Wilkinson January 19, 2012

What an amazing thing to be able to listen to any music you want, a whole world of bands.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore James Joiner January 6, 2015

Thousands of bands descend on Austin, Texas, for the South By Southwest music festival.
Craziest SXSW Band Names: Perfect Pussy, Death By Unga Bunga, and More Marlow Stern March 7, 2014

Soon, all these bands we could never afford were coming to us.
Remembering ‘The O.C.’: Creator Josh Schwartz on the Show’s 10th Anniversary Marlow Stern August 4, 2013

Historical Examples

Secretary Cox explained that the treaty was signed by more than two hundred different Sioux of all the bands.
Three Years on the Plains Edmund B. Tuttle

“Cut his bands,” said Hawkeye to David, who just then approached them.
The Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper

Here, as in Copenhagen, I noticed boys of ten to twelve years of age among the drummers, and in the bands of the military.
Visit to Iceland Ida Pfeiffer

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863 Adam Gurowski

The bands of cruel men who captured the recruits were known as “press gangs.”
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 10 Charles Herbert Sylvester

plural noun
a pair of white lawn or linen strips hanging from the front of the neck or collar of some ecclesiastical and academic robes
noun
a company of people having a common purpose; group: a band of outlaws
a group of musicians playing either brass and percussion instruments only (brass band) or brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments (concert band or military band)
a group of musicians who play popular music, jazz, etc, often for dancing
a group of instrumentalists generally; orchestra
(Canadian) a formally recognized group of Canadian Indians on a reserve
(anthropol) a division of a tribe; a family group or camp group
(US & Canadian) a flock or herd
verb
(usually foll by together) to unite; assemble
noun
a thin flat strip of some material, used esp to encircle objects and hold them together: a rubber band

a strip of fabric or other material used as an ornament or distinguishing mark, or to reinforce clothing
(in combination): waistband, hairband, hatband

a stripe of contrasting colour or texture See also chromosome band
a driving belt in machinery
a range of values that are close or related in number, degree, or quality

(physics) a range of frequencies or wavelengths between two limits
(radio) such a range allocated to a particular broadcasting station or service

short for energy band
(computing) one or more tracks on a magnetic disk or drum
(anatomy) any structure resembling a ribbon or cord that connects, encircles, or binds different parts
the cords to which the folded sheets of a book are sewn
a thin layer or seam of ore
(architect) a strip of flat panelling, such as a fascia or plinth, usually attached to a wall
a large white collar, sometimes edged with lace, worn in the 17th century
either of a pair of hanging extensions of the collar, forming part of academic, legal, or (formerly) clerical dress
a ring for the finger (esp in phrases such as wedding band, band of gold, etc)
verb (transitive)
to fasten or mark with a band
(US & Canadian) to ring (a bird) See ring1 (sense 22)
noun
an archaic word for bond (sense 1), bond (sense 3), bond (sense 4)
n.

“a flat strip,” also “something that binds,” a merger of two words, ultimately from the same source. In the sense “that by which someone or something is bound,” it is attested from early 12c., from Old Norse band “thin strip that ties or constrains,” from Proto-Germanic *bindan, from PIE *bendh- “to bind” (cf. Gothic bandi “that which binds; Sanskrit bandhah “a tying, bandage,” source of bandana; Middle Irish bainna “bracelet;” see bend (v.), bind (v.)). Most of the figurative senses of this word have passed into bond (n.), which originally was a phonetic variant of this band.

The meaning “a flat strip” (late 14c.) is from Old French bande “strip, edge, side,” via Old North French bende, from Old High German binda, from Proto-Germanic *bindan (see above). In Middle English, this was distinguished by the spelling bande, but since the loss of the final -e the words have fully merged. Meaning “broad stripe of color” is from late 15c.; the electronics sense of “range of frequencies or wavelengths” is from 1922. The Old North French form was retained in heraldic bend. Band saw is recorded from 1864.

“an organized group,” late 15c., from Middle French bande, which is traceable to the Proto-Germanic root of band (n.1), probably via a band of cloth worn as a mark of identification by a group of soldiers or others (cf. Gothic bandwa “a sign”). The extension to “group of musicians” is c.1660, originally musicians attached to a regiment of the army. To beat the band (1897) is to make enough noise to drown it out, hence to exceed everything.
v.

1520s, “to bind or fasten;” also “to join in a company,” from band (n.1) and (n.2) in various noun senses, and partly from French bander. The meaning “to affix an ID band to (a wild animal, etc.)” is attested from 1914. Related: Banded; banding.

band (bānd)
n.

An appliance or a part of an apparatus that encircles or binds a part of the body.

A cordlike tissue that connects or that holds bodily structures together.

A chromatically, structurally, or functionally differentiated strip or stripe in or on an organism.

band
(bānd)
A specific range of electromagnetic wavelengths or frequencies, as those used in radio broadcasting.

Related Terms

big band, to beat the band

(1) of love (Hos. 11:4); (2) of Christ (Ps. 2:3); (3) uniting together Christ’s body the church (Col. 2:19; 3:14; Eph. 4:3); (4) the emblem of the captivity of Israel (Ezek. 34:27; Isa. 28:22; 52:2); (5) of brotherhood (Ezek. 37:15-28); (6) no bands to the wicked in their death (Ps. 73:4; Job 21:7; Ps. 10:6). Also denotes chains (Luke 8:29); companies of soldiers (Acts 21:31); a shepherd’s staff, indicating the union between Judah and Israel (Zech. 11:7).

see:

on the bandwagon
to beat the band