bank swallow

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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. [1913 Webster]

They cast up a bank against the city.— 2 Sam. xx. 15.[1913 Webster]

2.A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Tiber trembled underneath her banks.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

4.An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

6.(A["e]ronautics) The lateral inclination of an a["e]roplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45[deg] is easy; a bank of 90[deg] is dangerous. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

7.A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

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. [PJC]

Bank beaver (Zool.), 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. [1913 Webster]