band

plural bands

1. A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling.
   1. A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together.

      The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them.

      1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   2. A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it.

      band and gusset and seam

      1843, Thomas Hood, The Song of the Shirt

   3. A strip along the spine of a book where the pages are attached.
   4. A belt or strap that is part of a machine.
2. A long strip of material, color, etc, that is different from the surrounding area.

   sandstone with bands of shale

   1 more example

   [...] at each station the train times are not shown in one all-embracing chronological list, but in two separate sheets, one with a conspicuous band of yellow detailing westbound departures and the other with a similar band of blue the eastbound trains.

   1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714

3. A strip of decoration.
   1. architectureA continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of colour, or of brickwork.
   2. architectureIn Gothic architecture, the moulding, or suite of mouldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts.
4. That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie.

   For that heroic band—those children of the furnace who, in regions like Texas and Tennessee, maintained their fidelity through terrible trials—we of the North felt for them, and profoundly we honor them.

   1866, Herman Melville, Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, Supplement

5. A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries.
6. in pluralTwo strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress.
7. natural sciencesA part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
   1. communicationsA designated range of radio frequencies used for wireless communication.

      Synonyms: frequency band, radio band

8. natural sciencesA group of energy levels in a solid state material.

   valence band;  conduction band

9. obsoleteA bond.

   OLd Iohn of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaſter, Haſt thou according to thy oath and band Brought hither Henry Herford thy bold ſon: Heere to make good yͤ boiſtrous late appeale, Which then our leyſure would not let vs heare, Againſt the Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Mowbray?

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1

10. obsoletePledge; security.

    He sent to her his basenet as a faithfull band.

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

11. USespeciallyA ring, such as a wedding ring (wedding band), or a ring put on a bird's leg to identify it.
12. sciencesAny distinguishing line formed by chromatography, electrophoresis etc
13. abbreviationellipsismedicineEllipsis of band cell.
14. in pluraloftenslangA wad of money totaling $1K, held together by a band; (by extension) $1000, a grand; (by extension) money

    She my trap queen, let her hit the bando / We be countin' up, watch how far them bands go

    2014, “Trap Queen”, performed by Fetty Wap

present singular third person bands · participle present banding · participle past banded · past banded

1. transitiveTo fasten with a band.

   "Come, come, 'Orace," said the inspector, leisurely elastic-banding his book and putting it away, "you aren't supposed to be fishing down that hole, you know. Is it O.K. there?"

   1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London

   1 more example

   As he spake, his eyes rested on the graves below. "Yes," muttered the youth, "they are sufficient answer; they are indeed the end of all human hope." Mechanically he turned from one to another. Some were recently banded down with osiers, and the grass was varied with primrose roots; on some the foxglove grew luxuriantly, while others had a tombstone, carved with a name and a brief epitaph.

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Poet’s Midnight”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 54

2. transitivebiologyTo fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).

plural bands

1. A group of musicians who perform together as an ensemble; sometimes, such a group working for a professional recording artist.

   bar band

   4 more examples

   musical band

   session band

   studio band

   touring band

2. A type of orchestra originally playing janissary music; an instance of this type.
3. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of marching band.
4. A group of people loosely united for a common purpose, such as a band of thieves.

   "My third command to the Winged Monkeys," said Glinda, "shall be to carry you to your forest. Then, having used up the powers of the Golden Cap, I shall give it to the King of the Monkeys, that he and his band may thereafter be free for evermore."

   1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Good Witch Grants Dorothy’s Wish”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC, page 256

   1 more example

   But in the mean time Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.

   1883, Howard Pyle, “Robin Hood Turns Butcher”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part second, page 47

5. anthropologyA small group of people living in a simple society, contrasted with tribes, chiefdoms, and nations.
6. CanadaabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of band government.

present singular third person bands · participle present banding · participle past banded · past banded

1. intransitiveTo group together for a common purpose; to confederate.

   And when it was day, certaine of the Iewes banded together, […]

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 23:12, signature O2, verso, column 2

2. transitiveeducationTo group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.

1. obsoleteparticiplepastsimple past and past participle of bind

present singular third person bands · participle present banding · participle past banded · past banded

1. obsoleteObsolete form of bandy.

plural Bands

1. A surname from German.