Definitions from Wordnet 2.0

• a flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning); "the plane went into a steep bank"
• a building in which commercial banking is transacted; "the bank is on the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon"
• a container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping money at home; "the coin bank was empty"
• a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities; "he cashed a check at the bank"; "that bank holds the mortgage on my home"
• an arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers; "he operated a bank of switches"
• a long ridge or pile; "a huge bank of earth"
• sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water); "they pulled the canoe up on the bank"; "he sat on the bank of the river and watched the currents"
• a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force
• the funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games; "he tried to break the bank at Monte Carlo"
• a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies)
• have confidence or faith in; "We can trust in God"; "Rely on your friends"; "bank on your good education"; "I swear by my grandmother''s recipes"
• cover with ashes so to control the rate of burning; "bank a fire"
• enclose with a bank; "bank roads"
• tip laterally; "the pilot had to bank the aircraft"
• put into a bank account; "She deposites her paycheck every month"
• be in the banking business
• act as the banker in a game or in gambling
• do business with a bank or keep an account at a bank; "Where do you bank in this town?"

Definitions from Wiktionary

• a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities; "he cashed a check at the bank"; "that bank holds the mortgage on my home" ,
• sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water); "they pulled the canoe up on the bank"; "he sat on the bank of the river and watched the currents" ,
• a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies) ,
• a building in which the business of banking transacted; "the bank is on the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon" ,
• an arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers; "he operated a bank of switches" ,
• a container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping money at home; "the coin bank was empty" ,
• a long ridge or pile; "a huge bank of earth" ,
• the funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games; "he tried to break the bank at Monte Carlo" ,
• a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force , 10. a flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning); "the plane went into a steep bank"

A bank is a place where money can be saved or loaned out from. Someone's money can be placed in the bank for safe keeping. Or the bank can give out loans to people for an agreement to pay the bank back at a later time, usually with interest. The people who run a bank are called bankers.

Banks also can use the money they have from deposits to invest in businesses in order to make more money.

In most of the modern world a bank settled by the government but independent of the state administrators controls how much money appears at a time. Such a kind of bank is called a national bank. A national bank ordinarily issues bills and/or coins. In some countries issuing money is the task of the government.

The word bank comes from an Italian word banco, meaning a bench, since Italian merchants in the medieval talked on borrowing and lending money between each others beside a bank and money was placed on that bank.

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