Bank upon

an inst-tution for receiving, lending, exchanging, and safeguarding money and, in some cases, issuing notes and transacting other financial business.
the office or quarters of such an inst-tution.
games.

the stock or fund of pieces from which the players draw.
the fund of the manager or the dealer.

a special storage place:
a blood bank; a sperm bank.
a store or reserve.
obsolete.

a sum of money, especially as a fund for use in business.
a moneychanger’s table, counter, or shop.

to keep money in or have an account with a bank:
do you bank at the village savings bank?
to exercise the functions of a bank or banker.
games. to hold the bank.
to deposit in a bank:
to bank one’s paycheck.
bank on/upon, to count on; depend on:
you can bank on him to hand you a reasonable bill for his services.
historical examples

she presented the check at the bank upon which it was drawn, and deposited the money at another.
make or break oliver optic

his pocket was at all times a bank upon which friendship or distress might draw.
the old showmen and the old london fairs thomas frost

“must be unconscious,” said jack, as they all got out and stumbled up the bank upon which the man was stretched.
finding the lost treasure helen m. persons

yet he felt his fingers nervously clutching the bank upon which they were sitting.
the golden web anthony partridge

the mist, lying like a bank upon the sea, shifted the horizon to within a thousand yards of the ship.
the sky pilot in no man’s land ralph connor

one can bank upon a woman’s intuition very often—but not in a case of this sort.
the riddle of the spinning wheel mary e. hanshew

the toll taken by the bank upon such transactions as simple buying and selling is practically nil; its profit is indirect.
hodge and his masters richard jefferies

“here’s a strawberry, i declare,” said giulia, diving into the leaves on the bank upon which they were sitting.
the d-ch-ss of trajetto anne manning

finally, he reached a bank upon which some mesquite bushes grew, and he devoured the green pods.
the romance of the colorado river frederick s. dellenbaugh

here is the bank upon which the body again became instinct with life’s returning pulses.
oswald langdon carson jay lee

noun
an inst-tution offering certain financial services, such as the safekeeping of money, conversion of domestic into and from foreign currencies, lending of money at interest, and acceptance of bills of exchange
the building used by such an inst-tution
a small container used at home for keeping money
the funds held by a gaming house or a banker or dealer in some gambling games
(in various games)

the stock, as of money, pieces, tokens, etc, on which players may draw
the player holding this stock

any supply, store, or reserve, for future use: a data bank, a blood bank
verb
(transitive) to deposit (cash, cheques, etc) in a bank
(intransitive) to transact business with a bank
(intransitive) to engage in the business of banking
(intransitive) to hold the bank in some gambling games
noun
a long raised m-ss, esp of earth; mound; ridge
a slope, as of a hill
the sloping side of any hollow in the ground, esp when bordering a river: the left bank of a river is on a spectator’s left looking downstream

an elevated section, rising to near the surface, of the bed of a sea, lake, or river
(in combination): sandbank, mudbank

the area around the mouth of the shaft of a mine
the face of a body of ore

the lateral inclination of an aircraft about its longitudinal axis during a turn
also called banking, camber, cant, superelevation. a bend on a road or on a railway, athletics, cycling, or other track having the outside built higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force on vehicles, runners, etc, rounding it at speed and in some cases to facilitate drainage
the cushion of a billiard table
verb
when tr, often foll by up. to form into a bank or mound
(transitive) to border or enclose (a road, etc) with a bank
(transitive) sometimes foll by up. to cover (a fire) with ashes, fresh fuel, etc, so that it will burn slowly
to cause (an aircraft) to tip laterally about its longitudinal axis or (of an aircraft) to tip in this way, esp while turning
to travel round a bank, esp at high speed
(transitive) (billiards) to drive (a ball) into the cushion
noun
an arrangement of objects, esp similar objects, in a row or in tiers: a bank of dials

a tier of oars in a galley
a bench for the rowers in a galley

a grade of lightweight writing and printing paper used for airmail letters, etc
(telephony) (in automatic switching) an -ssembly of fixed electrical contacts forming a rigid unit in a selector or similar device
verb
(transitive) to arrange in a bank
n.

“financial inst-tution,” late 15c., from either old italian banca or middle french banque (itself from the italian word), both meaning “table” (the notion is of the moneylender’s exchange table), from a germanic source (cf. old high german bank “bench”); see bank (n.2).

bank holiday is from 1871, though the tradition is as old as the bank of england. to cry all the way to the bank was coined 1956 by flamboyant pianist liberace, after a madison square garden concert that was packed with patrons but panned by critics.

“earthen incline, edge of a river,” c.1200, probably in old english but not attested in surviving doc-ments, from a scandinavian source such as old norse banki, old danish banke “sandbank,” from proto-germanic -bangkon “slope,” cognate with -bankiz “shelf” (see bench (n.)).
v.

“to act as a banker,” 1727, from bank (n.1). as “to deposit in a bank” from 1833. figurative sense of “to rely on” (i.e. “to put money on”) is from 1884, u.s. colloquial. meaning “to ascend,” as of an incline, is from 1892. in aeronautics, from 1911. related: banked; banking.

noun

money (late 1980s+ teenagers)
in addition to the idiom beginning with
bank