I. ˈband, -aa(ə)- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English band, bond, from Old Norse band; akin to Old English bend fetter, Old High German bant, Gothic bandi, Sanskrit bandha fetter, Old English bindan to bind — more at bind
1. : something that confines or constricts while allowing or imparting a limited or necessary degree of movement:
a.
(1) archaic : something used to make fast the body or limbs (as a fetter, manacle, shackle)
(2) obsolete : a leading string : tether
b. obsolete : a hinge of a gate or door ; especially : strap hinge
2. : something that binds or restrains by legal, moral, or spiritual authority: as
a. : a restraining obligation or tie affecting one's relations to another, to others, or to a tradition, concept, or condition
two New Jersey sculptors of the same period who helped break the bands of neoclassic traditions — American Guide Series:N.J.
b. archaic
(1) : a formal promise or guarantee : bond
(2) : a pledge given : security , surety
3.
[partly from Middle English bande strip, from Middle French bande, bende ]
: a strip serving to join, hold together, or integrate two or more things: as
a. : a string or tie (as of hay, straw, rushes) used to bind stalks into a sheaf or bundle
b. : belt 2
c. : the endless loop of cotton cord on a spinning frame or twister that is used as a belt to drive individual spindles — called also spinning band
d. : a cord or strip which crosses the backbone of a book and to which the sections are sewn
e. : a window came
f. : a metallic hoop or sleeve used to hold the barrel and stock of a gun together — called also barrel band
g. : a printed strip used as a label
a large collection of cigar bands
4.
[Middle English bande strip, from Middle French bande, bende, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin binda, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German binta fillet; akin to Old High German bintan to bind — more at bind ]
: a thin flat encircling strip, strap, or flat belt of material serving chiefly to bind or contain something: as
a. : a close-fitting strip that confines material at the waist, neck, or cuff of clothing ; specifically : hatband
b.
(1) obsolete : a strip of cloth for swathing the body : bandage
(2) : a strip of cloth used to protect a newborn baby's navel — called also bellyband
c. : a ring or endless strip of elastic (as for holding or compressing wrapping or keeping small objects together)
d. : a strengthening piece of canvas sewed across a sail (as at the eyelet holes used in reefing)
e. : a container without a bottom and usually of wood-veneer or treated paper in which plants are grown individually prior to transplanting or benching — called also plant band
5.
[Middle English bande strip, from Middle French bande, bende ]
: an elongated surface or section with parallel or roughly parallel sides: as
a. : a strip separated by some characteristic color or texture or considered apart from what is adjacent
a yellow band of light upon the street pours from an open door — Amy Lowell
as
(1) : a stripe, streak, or other elongated mark on an animal ; especially : one transverse to the long axis of the body
the band is an important show feature on a Hampshire hog
(2) : a line or streak of differentiated cells ; often : germ band
(3) : one of the alternating dark and light segments of skeletal muscle fibers
(4) : stab cell
(5) : a strip of abnormal tissue either congenital or acquired ; especially : a strip of connective tissue that causes obstruction of the bowel
(6) : a thin seam of ore or other mineral stratified between other kinds of rock
b.
(1) : a transverse ridge raised by a cord or strip on the backbone of a book and often continued onto the front and back covers — see raised band
(2) : a false ridge raised on the binding of a book for decoration or to protect lettering — compare hub 4
c. : a long narrow feature or surface running along, across, or around something
along the coast … lies a band of sand dunes — Samuel Van Valkenburg & Ellsworth Huntington
d. : a more or less well-defined range of wavelengths, frequencies, or energies of optical, electric, or acoustic radiation
band spectrum
radio-frequency band
6.
[Middle English bande strip, from Middle French bande, bende ]
: a narrow circular, curved, or straight strip serving chiefly as decoration: as
a. : a narrow strip of material (as cloth) applied as binding, trimming, or finish to an article of dress
b.
(1) bands plural : a pair of strips hanging at the front of the neck as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress — compare geneva bands
(2) : fall 1d (2)
c. : any of several flat lines stamped or tooled on a book cover in gold or color or blind to simulate bands — compare fillet 5b
d. : a flat usually horizontal member (as a continuous tablet, a stripe, or a series of ornaments as of carved foliage, of color, or of brickwork) dividing or ornamenting a wall or part (as the molding or suite of moldings which encircles the pillars and small shafts in Gothic architecture or one of the sections of the banded column used in French Renaissance)
e. : a ring without raised portions
a wedding band
7.
[Middle English bande strip, from Middle French bande, bende ]
: band shell I
8. : a strip of the grooves of a phonograph record on which a single piece or a section of a long piece is recorded
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to affix a band to: as
a. : to bind together or tie up with a band
band asparagus
automatically banded and delivered in 5 packs of 50 cards each — Theory & Practice of Presswork
b. : to encircle (a tree trunk) with a band of cloth, paper, or sticky substance as protection against injurious insects
c. : to mark (a bird) with a band for identification
2.
a. : to finish with a band
the jacket was banded with black
the interior walls, banded in light and dark gray stone — American Guide Series: Minnesota
b. : to create or form a band on
wide gray eyes banded her face with intensity and intellect — Elizabeth Pollet
3.
a. : to attach (oneself) to a group
the royalists banded themselves against the popular movement
b. : to gather together or summon especially for some purpose
he banded all his resources together against the coming struggle
c. : to unite in a troop, company, or confederacy
farmers had long been banded against certain government controls
4. : to distribute (as grass seed, legume seed, or fertilizer) in strips under the soil surface rather than broadcast
intransitive verb
: to confederate especially for some common purpose : unite
all the first-rate critics are, in some measure, banded in one army — C.E.Montague
— often used with together
housewives band together and serve chicken and turkey — American Guide Series: Texas
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French bande troop, probably from Old Provençal banda, of Germanic origin; akin to Gothic bandwa, bandwo sign; from the use of a standard by a troop of soldiers — more at banner
: a group of persons, animals, or things: as
a. : a body of armed men : gang
a guerrilla band
a band of Indians
a band of outlaws
a band of men who wrecked the tobacco crop of those of their neighbors who refused to join a would-be monopolistic association — E.R.Bentley
b. : a body of persons often brought together by a common purpose or bound together by a common fate or lot
a band of refugees
a band of patriotic ladies who made clothing for the soldiers — Encyc. Americana
the small and select band of Europeans who have made the overland journey from China to India — Geographical Journal
specifically : a relatively self-sufficient tribal subgroup that is mainly united for social and economic reasons
c. : a group of animals sharing often more or less permanently a common existence either in nature or under domestication: as
(1) : a herd or flock usually of domestic mammals
a band of well-fattened cattle
especially : a large flock of range sheep tended by one herder
(2) : a flock of birds
a band of jays
(3) : a swarm of insects ; specifically : a circumscribed aggregation of migratory grasshoppers functioning as a unit — used often of the immature hoppers as distinguished from swarms of flying adults
d. : a group of musicians organized for playing together : orchestra: as
(1) : a group composed chiefly of percussion and wind instruments
military band
or of percussion and brass wind instruments only
brass band
(2) : any group capable of playing while marching
(3) : a group composed chiefly of one kind of instrument
a harmonica band
a pipe band
(4) : a dance orchestra of any composition
(5) : one of the groups of related instruments in an orchestra
e. : aggregate , collection , number
a band of ideas
the small numerable band of runaway planets — A.N.Whitehead
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: probably from Middle French bander, literally, to be tight — more at bandy
: bandy