1. A thin strip of flexible material used to encircle and bind one object or to hold a number of objects together: a metal band around the bale of cotton.2. A strip or stripe that contrasts with something else in color, texture, or material. 3. A narrow strip of fabric used to trim, finish, or reinforce articles of clothing. 4. Something that constrains or binds morally or legally: the bands of marriage and family.5. A simple ungrooved ring, especially a wedding ring. 6a. A neckband or collar. b.bands The two strips hanging from the front of a collar as part of the dress of certain clerics, scholars, and lawyers. c. A high collar popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. 7a.Biology A chromatically, structurally, or functionally differentiated strip or stripe in or on an organism. b.Anatomy A cordlike tissue that connects or holds structures together. 8.Physicsa. A specific range of wavelengths or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. b. A range of very closely spaced electron energy levels in solids, the distribution and nature of which determine the electrical properties of a material. 9. Any of the distinct grooves on a long-playing phonograph record that contains an individual selection or a separate section of a whole. 10. A cord or strip across the back of a book to which the sheets or quires are attached.
TRANSITIVE VERB:
Inflected forms: band·ed, band·ing, bands 1. To tie, bind, or encircle with or as if with a band. 2. To mark or identify with or as if with a band: a program to band migrating birds.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English bende (from Old English bend and and from Old French bande, bende, of Germanic origin) and Middle English bond, band (from Old Norse, band); see bhendh- in Appendix I.
b
nd
