Definition of "band"

band¹

/bænd/

noun
plural bands
1. A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling.
  1. A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together.
    Quotations
    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. Lincoln, chapter 10, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
  2. A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it.
    Quotations
    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.
  Quotations
  [...] 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. (architecture) A strip of decoration.
  1. A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of colour, or of brickwork.
  2. In 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.
  Quotations
  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 the plural) Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress.
7. (physics) A part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
8. (physics) A group of energy levels in a solid state material.
9. (obsolete) A bond.
  Quotations
  OLd Iohn of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaſter,Haſt thou according to thy oath and bandBrought 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, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1
10. (obsolete) Pledge; security.
  Quotations
  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
11. (especially US) A ring, such as a wedding ring (wedding band), or a ring put on a bird's leg to identify it.
12. (sciences) Any distinguishing line formed by chromatography, electrophoresis etc
13. (medicine) Short for band cell.
14. (slang, hiphop, often in the plural) A wad of money totaling $1K, held together by a band; (by extension) $1000, a grand; (by extension) money
  Quotations
  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
verb
third-person singular simple present bands, present participle banding, simple past and past participle banded
1. (transitive) To fasten with a band.
  Quotations
  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, […], page 54
2. (transitive, ornithology) To fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).

band²

/bænd/

noun
plural bands
1. A group of musicians who perform together as an ensemble, usually for a professional recording artist.
2. A type of orchestra originally playing janissary music.
3. A marching band.
4. A group of people loosely united for a common purpose (a band of thieves).
  Quotations
  But in the meantime 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, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […]
  "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, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co.
5. (anthropology) A small group of people living in a simple society, contrasted with tribes, chiefdoms, and states.
6. (Canada) A group of aboriginals that has official recognition as an organized unit by the federal government of Canada.
verb
third-person singular simple present bands, present participle banding, simple past and past participle banded
1. (intransitive) To group together for a common purpose; to confederate.
  Quotations
  Certain of the Jews banded together.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Acts xxiii:12
2. (transitive, education) To group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.

band³

/bænd/

verb
1. (obsolete) simple past and past participle of bind

band⁴

/bænd/

verb
third-person singular simple present bands, present participle banding, simple past and past participle banded
1. Obsolete form of bandy.