BANK, in sea-affairs, denotes an elevation of the ground or bottom of the sea, so as sometimes to surmount the surface of the water, or at least to leave the water so shallow as usually not to allow a vessel to remain afloat over it.—In this sense, bank amounts to much the same as flat, shoal, &c. There are banks of sand, and others of stone, called also shelves, or rocks. In the north sea they also speak of banks of ice, which are large pieces of that matter floating.