| bank | 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. "They cast up a bank against the city." (2 Sam. Xx. 15) 2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. 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. "Tiber trembled underneath her banks." (Shak) 4. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. 5. <chemical> The face of the coal at which miners are working. A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level. The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank. <zoology> Bank beaver, the otter. Bank swallow, a small American and European swallow (Clivicola riparia) that nests in a hole which it excavates in a bank. Origin: OE. Banke; akin to E. Bench, and prob. Of Scand. Origin.; cf. Icel. Bakki. See Bench. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| blood bank | A place, usually a separate part or division of a hospital laboratory or a separtate free-standing facility, in which blood is collected from donors, typed, separated into several components, stored, and/or prepared for transfusion to recipients. (05 Mar 2000) |
| gene bank | A group of genes which are coordinately controlled. (09 Oct 1997) |
| clone bank | <molecular biology> A collection of DNA molecules, derived from restriction fragments that have been cloned in vectors, that includes all or part of the genetic material of an organism. (18 Nov 1997) |
| sperm bank | A facility where sperm are kept frozen in liquid nitrogen for later use in artificial insemination. (09 Oct 1997) |
| national practitioner data bank | A databank established by the health care quality improvement act of 1986 authorizing the department of health and human services to collect and release information on the professional competence and conduct of physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health care practitioners. The data include adverse actions on physicians' malpractice, licensure, hospital privileges, concealing of pertinent information, and the like. (12 Dec 1998) |
| european molecular biology lab gene bank | <molecular biology> A large database of DNA sequence data in Heidelberg, Germany, compiled from international sources. It is the European equivalent to the Genbank DNA sequence databank in the United States of America. WWW: EMbase. (09 Oct 1997) |
| eye bank | A place where corneas of eyes removed after death are preserved for subsequent keratoplasty. (05 Mar 2000) |
| granule cell of connective tissue | <cell biology, immunology> Resident cell of connective tissue that contains many granules rich in histamine and heparan sulphate. Release of histamine from mast cells is responsible for the immediate reddening of the skin in a weal and flare response. Very similar to basophils and possibly derived from the same stem cells. Two types of mast cells are now recognised, those from connective tissue and a distinct set of mucosal mast cells, the activities of the latter are T-cell dependent. (05 Jan 1998) |
| connective tissue cell | Any of the cell's of varied form occurring in connective tissue. (05 Mar 2000) |
| T-cell-rich, B-cell lymphoma | <tumour> A B-cell lymphoma in which more than 90% of the cells are of T-cell origin, masking the large cells that form the neoplastic B-cell component. See: adult T-cell lymphoma. (05 Mar 2000) |
| adenoid tissue | A structure found within the lymphatic system that consists of lymphocytes within a network of fibres. (09 Oct 1997) |
| adipose tissue | <anatomy> Connective tissue that has been specialised to store fat. See: adipocyte. (25 Jun 1999) |
| aerenchymous tissue | A type of plant tissue in which cells are unusually large, resulting in large air spaces in the plant organ, such tissues are often referred to as spongy and usually provide increased buoyancy. (09 Oct 1997) |
| areolar tissue | Loose, irregularly arranged connective tissue that consists of collagenous and elastic fibres, a protein polysaccharide ground substance, and connective tissue cells (fibroblasts, macrophages, mast cells, and sometimes fat cells, plasma cells, leukocytes, and pigment cells). (05 Mar 2000) |