band1

 
Pronunciation: /band/

noun

  • 1a flat, thin strip or loop of material, used as a fastener, for reinforcement, or as decoration: wads of banknotes fastened with gummed paper bands Victoria settled the velvet band on her hair
  • a plain ring for the finger, especially a gold wedding ring: a narrow band of gold was her only jewellery
  • Ornithology, North American a ring of metal placed round a bird’s leg to identify it: look for a leg band on the osprey
  • a belt or strap transmitting motion between two wheels or pulleys.
  • (bands) a collar with two hanging strips, worn by certain lawyers, clerics, and academics as part of their formal dress: I’m wearing clerical bands, which are a sign of my office
  • 2a stripe, line, or elongated area of a different colour, texture, or composition from its surroundings: a long, narrow band of cloud
  • a narrow stratum of rock or coal: the band of limestone continues north on the same contour
  • 3a range of values or a specified category within a series (used especially in financial contexts): your home was placed in one of eight valuation bands
  • a range of frequencies or wavelengths in a spectrum: channels in the UHF band
  • any of several groups into which school pupils of the same age are divided on the basis of broadly similar ability: the top band of pupils
  • 4 archaic a thing that restrains, binds, or unites: must I fall, and die in bands?

verb

[with object]
  • 1provide or fit (an object) with something in the form of a strip or ring, for reinforcement or decoration: doors are banded with iron to make them stronger
  • Ornithology, North American put a band on (a bird) for identification: the map shows where starlings banded in Holland were later recovered
  • 2mark (something) with a stripe or stripes of a different colour: the bird’s bill is banded across the middle with black (as adjective banded) banded agate
  • 3British allocate to a range or category (used especially in financial contexts): single adults in a property banded above D will pay more
  • group (school pupils) into classes or sets for teaching purposes: the infants are banded in terms of their ability

Origin:

late Old English (in band1 (sense 4 of the noun)), from Old Norse, reinforced in late Middle English by Old French bande, of Germanic origin; related to bind